The Gael and Cymbri : or, An inquiry into the origin and history of the Irish Scoti, Britons, and Gauls, and of the Caledonians, Picts, Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons

c, fa.

THE

GAEL AND CYMBRI;

OR

AN INQUIRY

INTO

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY

OF THE

IRISH SCOTI, BRITONS, AND GAULS,

AND OF THE

CALEDONIANS, PICTS, WELSH,
CORNISH, AND BRETONS.

BY

WILLIAM BETHAM,

ULSTER KING OF ARMS,
&C &C.

DUBLIN :

WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO.

SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, AND T. AND W. BOONE, LONDON ;
OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH.

1834.

PRINTED BY P. D, HARRY, 3, CECILIA-STREET.

\

ERRATA.

Page. Line.

25 4 for 12th, read 16th,

31 7 for where, read were.

37 note ejutate, read ejulate.

62 6 dele people.

77 7 for importance, read authority.

78 22 for because its, read aw</ A/*.

79 13 for AM**, read exists.

84 7 for settlement, read settlements.

85 8 for namely, read merely.
92 9 for claims, read chains.
98 11 for were, read was.

] 09 note for tee*, read tafo, and name, read names.

140 19 for different, read differ unt.

144 2 for annuum, read annuus.

157 6 for /ays, read /zes.

218 16 for ofc, read 6attfe.

219 5 for formed, read found.
222 18 for Maw, read with.
287 13 for Britain, read Briton.
287 19 for r#0K, read Britain.
365 16 for was, read i*.

380 note for Nobitia, read Notitia.

382 1 1 note for coporis, read corporis.

384 1 for spoke, read spoken.

392 7 dele comma after Cimbric.

394 8 for exhibit, read exhibits.

398 5 for Agricola, read Agricola.

430 4 for M, read *A?y.

43C 3 for a/u/ wo^, read z/ >tf.

TO THE KING.

SIRE,

I have the honour to inscribe to your most
gracious Majesty, this attempt to place on its
true basis, the history of the early inhabitants
of the British Islands ; which, I trust, will be
found not altogether unworthy your Majesty's
royal favour and patronage.

With the most humble, grateful, and duti-
ful respect, I have the honour to subscribe
myself,

Your Majesty's most devoted
Servant and Subject,

WILLIAM BETH AM,

Ulster King of Arms.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

THE family of the human race from which the
Milesian Irish derive their descent, and the period
of their settlement in Ireland, has been, hitherto,
a much disputed, but unsettled question. The
native authorities, indeed, derive them from
Spain, and call them Scoti, or Scuits, but it is
still left doubtful who these Scoti were, as no
such people are mentioned by the antient writers
as inhabiting Spain ; and the authority of the
Irish MSS. and traditions has been altogether re-
jected by some, and held as very questionable
authority, by most English writers, while the

VI PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

native historians have insisted on its verity with
great warmth. On the one hand it will not be
denied that the advocates for its truth, more
zealous than judicious, have indulged in bold
assertion and loose conjecture, fondly expecting
the antient Irish MSS. and traditions, unsup-
ported by external evidence, to be received as
unquestionable testimony ; on the other, those
evidences have been, without due examination,
condemned as clumsy fictions, void of truth,
probability, or foundation.

The Irish story must, however, be considered as
entitled to some respect from its antiquity. Both
Nennius and Giraldus Cambrensis, give the out-
line, much as it is found in Keating, the former
states, that he had the relation from the most
learned of the Scots ; it must, therefore, be at least
of 1000 years' standing.

Having been impressed with the idea, that
the demonstration of the true origin and history
of the Irish people, would afford powerful aid
towards elucidating those of other European
nations, I have pursued 'this investigation for
many years, and the results have justified and
substantiated the accuracy of the opinion I had
formed beyond my most sanguine expectations.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Vll

The examination of the language, laws, reli-
gion, customs, and institutions of the people of
Gaul, who were declared by Caesar, to have
called themselves Celta3, was the first object of my
attention, and the result of that investigation
has established, it is conceived, beyond the pos-
sibility of doubt or question, that the Irish, Bri-
tons, and Gauls, of Caesar's day, all spoke the
same language, had the same origin, religion,
laws, institutions, and customs, and were, in fact,
but different branches of the same people. Thus
far one branch of the question has been, *I con-
ceive, effectually answered the Scoti, or Irish,
were Celtae.

The other question still remained " WHEN

DID THEY SETTLE IN IRELAND ?" This Could

not be answered without first solving the pro-
blem of " WHO WERE THE CELT^ ?" It Was

not sufficient to rest on the probability of their
settling in the British islands from Gaul, al-
though that alternative has hitherto been the der-
nier resort, of most English writers, who, rejecting
altogether the Milesian story as fabulous, have
had no other way of accounting for the peopling
of these islands, than in frail wicker coracles, co-
vered with skins, from the nearest coast of the
continent.

Vlll PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

and whence were the Celtce ?" in-
volved investigation into the history of all the
antient people of Europe, but it was not long be-
fore that question was also satisfactorily answered ;
a strong affinity was palpable between the Celts
and the Phenicians their language, religion, and
institutions, not only appear to have been similar,
but identical ; they not only traded with, but co-
lonized Spain, the British Islands, and Celtic
Gaul, expelling or extirpating the previous in-
habitants, and planting therein their own people.
Thus is the second question answered, and the
long sought problem solved.

Another question arose out of this investiga-
tion, viz. were " the Welsh the antient Britons,
who combated against Caesar, and, after the fall
of the Roman province of Britain into, the hands
of the Saxons, took refuge in Wales, and there
maintained their independance, and handed down
their language, laws, and institutions, to their
descendants "

I had always considered the affirmative of this
proposition true, and, although a slight acquaint-
ance with the Welsh language, led to the con-
clusion that it varied essentially from the Gaelic,
still it appeared but a variance, and I considered

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. IX

the two languages, in their origin, essentially
the same. Finding, however, discrepancies and
anomalies in the notion of the Welsh being the
antient Britons, which appeared irreconcileable,
I determined, in the first instance, to examine,
more particularly, the construction of the Welsh
language, and was surprised to find that it dif-
fered totally from the Gaelic, and had not, in
fact, the slightest affinity, unless it could be
considered an affinity that a few words are to be
found in each tongue, which have the same or si-
milar meaning.

Having thus ascertained that the Welsh and
Gael must have been a totally distinct and se-
parate people, and, therefore, that the ancestors of
the Welsh could not have been the Britons, who
fought with Csesar, as they were undoubtedly
Gael, the question then arose " who were the
Welsh, and when did they become possessed of
Wales r

Thus did another difficulty present itself, of no
small magnitude, which, however, was eventually
surmounted. Lhuyd and Rowland, two of the
most eminent Welsh writers, had unwillingly
been coerced into the opinion, that a people,
who spoke the Irish language, were the pre-

X PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

decessors of the Welsh in Wales, and gave
names to most of the places in that country
and all parts of England ; and that Welsh names

of rivers and places, were only to be found in the
r j

eastern and southern parts of Scotland ; there-
fore, it appears clear, that the Picts, who inha-
bited that country, must have been the ancestors

of the Welsh, and that they conquered Wales,
t Cornwall, and Britanny, on the fall of the Ro-
man empire ; and, calling themselves Cymbri,
they were a colony of the Cimbri, a people who
once inhabited the neighbouring coasts of Jut-
tjs land, the antient Cimbric Chersonesus, the coun-
try opposite the land of the Picts.

.

Thus, is the origin and history of the
Gael and Cymbri, placed on its true basis, and
that is now in harmony, which, heretofore, was
confused, anomalous, and contradictory. The
j^ p false statements respecting the received history of
the Welsh, had their origin in the fabrications of
Geoffrey of Monmouth, in the early part of the
twelfth century. Of the previous writers, Gil das
I is totally inconsistent with Geoffrey's statement,
and such parts of the book ascribed to Nennius,
a were really written bv him, clearly support
Gildas, and go to establish the fact, that the an-
tient Britons were Gael. Indeed there is nothing

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. XI

against that idea but the contemptible fabrications
of Geoffrey and the Welsh Triads, which are too
palpable fictions to weigh as a feather in the ba-
lance.

The earliest authorities derive the word Scot
and Scoti, from Scyth, or Scythian. Nennius,
who quotes the Irish writers, calls them Scoti,
and Scothi, and brings them from Spain. By
the Anglo-Saxon writers, they are generally called
Scyts, and Scytisc. Pinkerton derives it from
f-ceJte, dispersed, scattered. Chalmers, from
Scuite, or fculte, a small body of men. Where
was this interpretation found ? It is not Gaelic.
Macpherson derives the same from Coit, a wood,
(Welsh, Coed) coJc, is Gaelic for a boat, or
coracle of wicker, covered with a skin. Mac-
pherson gives feat, a ship. Vallancey sup-
poses that Scoti and Scythi, must mean the same

people, and endeavours to discover evidence to
x x

make the Irish, Indo- Scythians, conceiving that
the word must have been derived from the coun-
try, which they originally inhabited. The Irish
fable, derives Scot from Scota, a daughter of
one of the Pharaohs. The Gaelic word jrcuJte,-
however, signifies a wanderer, a person of no-
madic habits, perhaps every people of a rambling
character were included under the name of Scy-

Xll PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

thians, without reference to the country they in-
habited, or the family of the human race from
which they sprung. Thus, all the Tartar race,
in the northern regions of Asia and Europe,
and a great part of Germany, were styled
Scythians.

The Irish, in latter times, were called by their
neighbours, Scoti : they were denominated Hi-
berni, by Eumenius, but his contemporary, Por-
phry, speaks of the Scoticce Gentes, meaning the
Scotish nations inhabiting Britain. The Roman
writers, however, did not include the Scots of the
British islands among the Scythian nations, but
distinctly called them Scoti. Bede calls the Picts
a Scythian nation, who were certainly from the
north of Europe.

The Gaelic Scuite, or wanderer, was a name
the Phenicians, of all other nations, may be said
to have appropriately merited. Their wander-
ings were more extended than any other nation :
they first passed the Pillars of Hercules, and
launched into the bosom of the interminable ocean,
as it was then considered ; in fact, it was they
who gave it the name of ocean ; oJce, sea, ceotn,
head, or chief. The chief sea.

Scot, Scuite, and wanderer, is but a transla-

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Xlll

tion of the name by which the Phenieians
were known to the Greeks and the antients.
Phenice is a wanderer by sea ; f eJn, a plough-
man ; ojce, of the sea ; a mariner ; a wanderer
by sea. They were called Phenieians, or Phenice,
before they settled on the coasts of Tyre and
Sidon. Herodotus tells us, they were called by
the Arabians, Homer ita, a name which means
the same thing as Phenice, in Greek, (see p. 42,)
viz. navigators ; for Greek should be understood
the Phenician word adopted by the Greeks, for
the name, properly speaking, has no meaning in
Greek, and the most absurd guesses have been
ventured to explain it in Greek, none of which
are at all feasible. >cub, is a Gaelic name for a
ship ; and /-cab buJne, ship-man, the very mean-
ing of the word Phenice ; a word also from the
same root, as ^cuJte, from its wandering or tra-
velling over the sea. These two words, or rather
the compound word, is pronounced skiddeen, li-
terally a ship-man, or mariner.

It may be objected that the Britons and Gauls
were Gael, as well as the Irish, and, therefore,
why were they not also called Scoti, by the an-
tient writers ? It is not to be expected that
a negative can be proved ; they may origi-
nally have been called Scots, and wanderers,

XIV PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

and have ceased to be so denominated, when
they acquired settled habits, before the Greeks
and Romans were acquainted with them. The
Irish, who were unquestionably called Scoti,
by the lower Roman writers, and S cults, by
the Anglo-Saxons, have long lost that name,
which is now exclusively applied to the in-
habitants of North Britain. /A highlander, how-
ever, the genuine descendant of the Albanian
Scoti, will not at this day call himself a Scot ; if
asked his country in his own tongue, he will
answer either that he is Albanach, or Gael.
He will never think of saying I am Scot. We
have, therefore, two strong facts to account for
the disuse of such a term by the British and
Gaulish Gael.

Although the foregoing derivation certainly is
probable, there is another which appears very
likely to be the modern origin of the name. The
name Scot was not heard of until about the .de-
cline of the Roman empire, and may, therefore,
have been applied, for the first time, to the
hordes of wandering predatory Irish, who in-
fested the western coasts of Britain. It should
also be remembered that the Britons spoke Gaelic,
and would naturally call the roaming pirates
Scuite, which afterward was applied to the Irish

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. XV

nation generally, and was eventually adopted by
the Albanian Scots themselves. Their country, na-
turally, received the name of Skuytland from the
Saxons.

It has been my object to adduce evidence, per-
fectly free from even the suspicion of Irish pre-
dilection or bias ; it will be found that few
Irish authorities have been quoted, except the
Gaelic language itself. Even for the Irish his-
tory, the account given by Nennius and Giraldus
Cambrensis, have been preferred to Irish MSS.
or Keating's history, although it should be
admitted, in candour and fairness to that learned
writer, that his real history, in the original, is
very superior to the spurious English trans-
lation, published by Dermot O'Connor. The
Milesian story, however, will eventually be
found grounded in truth ; and, although but a
faint and imperfect sketch, it is the true history
of the first settlement of the Celtse in Europe.

The following pages are now laid before the
critical and intelligent, with no small portion of
anxiety ; they appear to me to demonstrate, that
antient colonies of Phenicians settled in Spain,
Ireland, Britain, and Gaul, long before the
Christian era, and that they called themselves

XVI rilELIMlNAKY OBSERVATIONS.

Gael, and Gaeltach, or Celta?, and that the Irish,
the Gael of Scotland, and the Manks, are now
the only descendants of that antient people
who speak their language.

I have endeavoured to place the subject in a
clear and perspicuous light, and leave it now
to the decision of competent judges, fully aware
that received opinions of history, and national
prejudices, are very difficult to be removed, or
even shaken ; but feeling strongly impressed with
the truth of my statements and deductions, I
venture to launch my little vessel, inviting, rather
than deprecating criticism my object being
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth.

There is one point, however, on which some
allowance and indulgence may be expected, that
is, in the numerous names of rivers and places,
which have been collated, some may have been
mistaken, but the definitions given, will, it is
conceived, generally be found correct. The
names of places of which I have personal know-
ledge, are so palpably descriptive, that I feel
little apprehension for the accuracy of those I am
unacquainted with.

If these names be correctly explained, what an

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. XVII

important and valuable addition they make to
geographical knowledge, and what new lights do
they throw on antient history ? The attempts of
the most learned and intelligent historians,
to explain the names of places, have not been
founded on the language which those who con-
ferred the names spoke, and, therefore, were
erroneous and delusive.

The English critic now possesses ample and
efficient means of investigating these etymo-
logies, as no less than four good dictionaries
of the Gaelic language have issued from the
press, within a few years ; that is to say, the
Irish and English Dictionary, by Edward
O'Reilly ; a new edition of O'Brien's Irish and
English Dictionary, which contains much valu-
able topographical information ; Armstrong's
Scotish Gaelic Dictionary ; and, lastly, the splen-
did work published under the auspices of the
Highland Society of Scotland, the most copious
and enlarged of all. These works will assist the
critic and the scholar to examine much more
satisfactorily than formerly, and to them an
appeal is made with confidence.

Antient history has been obscured, rather than
elucidated, by the Greek and Roman writers,

XVill PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

who have endeavoured to weave into their own
story the incidents of the history of the Phe-
nicians ; and both those nations, apparently,
endeavoured to destroy the records of the
people to whom they were indebted for their
literature and primary elements of civilization.

The Phenician language has been, for two
thousand years, unknown, that is, with any cer-
tainty ; at all events, so imperfectly understood,
that all attempts to explain even the shortest in-
scription, found upon coins, medals, or marbles,
have been but vague and uncertain guesses.
Spanhiem, Bochart, and Gebelen, have endea-
voured to render them intelligible through the
Hebrew, but their attempts have been abortive,
or very imperfectly successful ; though kindred
tongues, the affinity of the Hebrew with the
Phenician is too distant to be useful for such a
purpose. The Phenicians, although co-descend-
ants of Shem, through Eber, with the Jews, had
so much intercourse with other nations, that their
language became very much mixed and changed,
while the Hebrew remained stationary and pure.

The discovery that in the Irish a people
still exist who speak the language of the Pheni-
cians, is of the first historical importance, for

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. XIX

by it Phenician inscriptions may be decyphered,
and the extent of their commerce and navigation
traced by the antient names of places in the world
known to the antients.

The Irish character has been used in this work
to express the Gaelic words, because the Scottish
method of using an h instead of a point, to
eclipse or render mute the preceding consonant,
gives an uncouth and awkward appearance to the
word itself, and would render it unpronounceable,
according to the power of that letter in any
other language. An alphabet of the Irish let-
ters, and a brief explanation of the power of
the points, is, therefore, given.

The alphabet consists of the following seven-
teen letters :

abcdefgilmnoprs tu.

c b g, having a point over, render them
mute.

b and m change their power to v consonant.

r) signifies that the letter is doubled, and is the
same as 7727.

2& 4. -U <****?' "^ *'*

SC4/lv*'< ~C****c / ,

**/*& ^^

XX PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

These few observations are sufficient to explain
the sound of the Irish words used in the follow-
ing essay. The only letters which differ much
from the Roman are b d, p f, 5 g, /i r, f s, and
t t, but even in these the variation is so very
slight, that the knowledge of them will be easily
acquired.

;/*eH. ** J4

/ * / *^ > . X

CbC :ft?^*'-

. Ak 4* <n*d~faf

4**+<**W A4ft^

,
/&> <*#*l^p++*M

*/* **.* ^ir*-^ p.' **'^*

' r *C*\G <+frrL #&.*.# +** &+*&*&

fatoiifarf *fa**t SMK./> 4'^'fM ft

/; t/iisr*Vofy *

* 4*6*. (

e***rt4*+>. +*? S***>*+ *,***% o '

WM ^n*4 ^-- ; ^^T f

> &*

it &**&

#i* f.

* *

. r t ,>x? ^ *

r?> f* & ^<dht*4

+4*+t- f'

&V&

.</** ^ ^ -.,4-/P*- J

***** ^ >#;f ^* '

-*/ #^w" /&*--

THE

GAEL AND CYMBRI.

CHAPTER I.

The subject warmly discussed, but still undecided Who un-
questionable CeltcR Who not Who styled Celtce by the An-
tients Casar Tacitus Errors of Modern Writers To-
land Dialects of the Celtce Irish, Erse, and Manks of the
Cimbric Welsh, Cornish, Armorican Bishop of Dromore
Doubts whether the Welsh, Cornish, and Armorican are
of same origin as the Irish Bishop's pedigree of the Celtic
includes the Welsh Erroneous Corrected pedigree Pe-
digree of the Gothic Pedigree of the Cimbri Vallancey
Danger of Etymology Scoti Sir James Ware and
other English writers of the British Islands not peopled
from the Continent Why by a maritime people Tacitus
Amber CcRsar Herodotus Tyrians.

THERE are few subjects of history which have
excited such tedious, lengthened, and bitter
controversy as the history of the Celts. The
disputants often waxed so warm, that they lost

2 THE GAEL AND CYMBRT.

sight of their subject in the indulgence of their
animosity. Many elaborate and learned books
have been written, but the subject is at this mo-
ment as open for discussion and unsettled,
as if it had never been agitated. There is
scarcely a people in Western Europe, who have
not, upon slight grounds, been declared Celtic ;
in short, the writers who have undertaken to en-
lighten the world, on the subject, evidently had
not satisfied themselves.

As the term Celtae has hitherto been so un-
certain, it is necessary to define and specify what
is here meant by the Celtce^ in order that we
may arrive at something like a rational and logi-
cal conclusion, and avoid wasting time in useless
discussions. Our criteria, therefore, are

First That the inhabitants of Celtic Gaul,
of Caesar's day, being undoubted Celtse, every
nation who spoke the same language, and had the
same religion, manners, and institutions, as that
people, were also Celts.

Secondly That if we can discover a more
antient people, who spoke the same language,
professed the same religion, and had the same

CRITERIA. 3

manners and institutions of the Celtae of Gaul,
that must have been the nation from whom the
Celts descended.

Thirdly That any people whose language dif-
fers in construction, and whose religion, man-
ners and institutions have nothing common or ho-
mogeneous with the Celtse of Gaul, cannot be
Celts ; and that the words found in the language
of such a nation, having a similar sound and
meaning as some in the Celtic, and having a
Celtic root, must be concluded to have been
borrowed from the latter during a long inter-
course and neighbourhood, but are no proofs of
a common origin.

These are the tests which will hereafter be ap-
plied ; from which it is hoped, the deductions,
results, and conclusions, may be satisfactory to
the unprejudiced reader.

The antient writers included under the name
of Celts, all the inhabitants of the western
shores of Europe. Herodotus, says the ex-
treme west is inhabited by the Celtse, and
declares, that Spain, Britain, and greater
part of Gaul, was under the dominion of
the Celtcc. But the most valuable authority is

B

4 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Csesar, whose conquest of Gaul, and invasion of
Britain, gave him better opportunities of knowing
their true position than previous writers. He
supplies us with lights, without which we should
scarcely be able to dissipate the cloud hanging
over the manners, customs, religion, and learn-
ing of those early times, or form any correct
idea of the institutions of the early inhabitants
of these countries. Of their origin he appears
to have been ignorant, and Tacitus tells us it was
hid in the mists of antiquity.

We are enabled, from Csesar, to place within
defined limits the country of the Celtse, and thus
we divest the subject of much difficulty. Part of
Spain, Celtic Gaul, and the British islands were
the limits of Celtica Proper. Cluverius, in his
Germania Antiqua, Pelloutier, in his Histoire
des Celtes, Larcher, in his Geographic d'He-
rodote, and others, by including the antient
Germans, and the northern kingdoms of Den-
mark, Sweden, and Norway, among the Celtse,
have been led into confusion and endless contra-
dictions. The Germans were Goths, Teutons,
or Cimbri, not Celts ; their language totally
differed from the Celtic in construction. None
of those learned writers appear to have had the
slightest idea of the Celtic tongue ; Pelloutier

ERRORS OF MODERN WRITERS. 5

acknowledges his ignorance. Caesar distinctly re-
lates that the language of the Germans was quite
different from that of the Gauls, and speaks of
Ariovistus, the German king, having learned the
latter with difficulty ; while both he and Tacitus
testify that the inhabitants of the British isles and
the Gauls were same people and spoke the same
language, " Sermo hand multum diver sus"*

But it is scarcely necessary to contest the erro-
neous notion of Cluverius, Keysler, Larch er,
Pelloutier, and others, that the antient Germans
and Celtse were originally people of the same
stock. Mr. Toland, and after him the vene-
rable Dr. Percy, bishop of Dromore, in the
preface to his translation of Malet's Northern
Antiquities, by a comparison of the languages
of the antient nations of Europe, clearly de-
monstrated the error into which those learned
men had fallen. But, as the last-named able
writers did not see, and, consequently, have
not removed, all the error in which the subject
is involved, it is necessary to reiterate some
of their arguments, and to point out the dis-
crepancies .which still embarrass the subject, by

* Tacitus in Vita Agricola, c. 11.

GAEL AND CYMBRI.

shewing that they ought also to have separated
the Welsh, Cornish, and Armoriean from the
Celtic.

Mr. Toland in the first of his Letters to Lord
Molesworth, on the Druids, which are generally
dignified with the title of the " History of the
Druids," for the first time, I believe, made a dis-
tinction between the Celtic and the Gothic
dialects.

" The Celtic dialects," says he, " which are
now principally six, namely, the Welsh, or in-
sular British Cornish , almost extinct Armo-
rican, or French British Irish, the least cor-
rupted Manks, the language of the Isle of
Man and Earse, or Highland Irish, spoken
also in the western islands of Scotland. These
having severally their own dialects, are, with res-
pect to each other, and the old Celtic of Gaul,
as the several dialects of the German language
and Low Dutch, the Swedish, Danish, Norwegian,
and Icelandic, which are all descendants of their
common mother the Gothic. Not that ever such
a thing as a pure Gothic or Celtic language
either did or could exist, in any considerable
region, without dialects, no more than pure ele-
ments ; but by such an original language is meant

DR. PERCY. 7

the common root or trunk, the primitive words,
and especially the peculiar construction that runs
through all the branches, whereby they are in-
telligible to each other, or may easily become so,
but different from all kinds of speech besides.
Thus the Celtic and the Gothic, which have often
been taken for each other, are as different as the
Latin and the Arabic."

This argument was improved upon by the
bishop of Dromore, who, although fully sensible
of the great difference between the Welsh and
Irish, says :

^
" In conformity to the opinion of the most

knowing antiquaries I have given the Irish and
Erse tongues as descended from one common
origin with the Cambrian, or antient British lan-
guage, viz : the Welsh, Armoric, and Cornish.
But, to confess my own opinion, / cannot think
they are equally derived from one common
Celtic stock, at least not in the same uniform
manner as any two branches of the Gothic ;
such, for instance, as the Anglo-Saxon, and the
Francic, from the old Teutonic. Upon com-
paring the two antient specimens given above
in page xix, scarce any resemblance appears
between them ; so that if the learned will have

O THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

them to be streams from one common fountain,
it must be allowed, that one or both of them
have been greatly polluted in their course, and
received large inlets from some other channel."*
Thus allowing- his acquiescence in, and deference
to, the opinion of the most knowing antiquaries
to get the better of his judgment. His knowledge
of the Welsh and Irish being confined to the
copies of the pater noster he quotes, he, per-
haps, felt unwilling to set up his single judgment
in a subject of so much difficulty.

The bishop gives the following genealogical
tables of the Celtic and Gothic tribes :

The Celtic

1

3. The antient
Irish.
1

1. The antient 2. The antient
Gauls. British.
I

1. | 2. | 3. | i. I
Welsh. Armoric Cornish. Irish.

2. | 3. |

Erse. Manks.

* Preface to Malet's Northern Antiquities, xxvii.

DESCENT OF THE CELTJi.

9

This pedigree of the Celtse must not be
allowed to stand unquestioned ; for Toland had
grafted on the stock a scion of a different genus,
of which the bishop doubted the genuine cha-
racter, and unwillingly allowed to remain, by
making the Welsh, Armoric, and Cornish,
descend from the antient Britons. This in-
vestigation will prove the bishop to have been
right ; for these people will be found to be of
German origin, and the descendants of the Cim-
bri, who were not a Celtic nation, as will appear
clearly and satisfactorily hereafter. The corrected
pedigree will stand thus :

The Celts, a Phenician colony

The antient
Gauls and
Spaniards,
amalgamated
with the
Romans.

The antient
Britons,
amalgamated
with the
Romans.

The a
Iri

=:

ntient
3 h,

=

I

1. Irish.

2. Erse.

3. Mt

10 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

The bishop's pedigree of the Gothic nations.

Teutonj, or Goths,
A German people.

] . Old Saxon
or Anglo-
Saxon.

l

2. Francic Icel
or Franco-
Teutonic.

l

andic

H- tt> CO j^

< ^ QO3

II 1 1

To the Teutons, or Goths, perhaps, might be
added the Belgse, who are believed to have been
a Gothic people.

It would be erroneous to call the Icelandic
Cimbric, if it be meant to convey the idea that
it was the language of those Cimbri, who, with the
Teutons, invaded Gaul and the Roman pro-
vinces in the time of Marius j therefore we give
the Cimbri a separate pedigree. The construction
of their language has a stronger affinity to the
Gothic than the Celtic, still it is very different

DESCENT OF THE CYMBRI. 11

from either, as in the case of the Finnish and
Laplandic.

The following additional pedigree is necessary
to the right understanding the subject :

The Cimbri, a nation from the north of
Europe, who inhabited Jutland, or
the Cimbric Chersonesus.

The Caledonian Cymbri, The Cimbri, who invad-

who peopled the British Is- ed Gaul, and were destroyed

lands, afterwards called by Marius. A. A. c. 103.
Picts.

The Welsh. Cornish. Armoricans,

or Bretons.

Hereafter will be given the arguments in sup-
port of this last pedigree.

The Irish were allowed, on all hands, to have
been a Celtic people, until Vallancey declared
them to be Indo- Scythians. Of General Val-
lancey I cannot speak with too much respect ;
his labours in Celtic investigation were, beyond
any other, intense and unremitted : the immense
mass of etymological facts he accumulated are
valuable ; and if his conclusions were erroneous
it was chiefly when he relied on doubtful
authors and etymologies. His ardent and intel-

12 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

ligent mind saw those affinities between the Irish
and the oriental languages which no one can
deny, and which recent discoveries and investiga-
tions have rendered obvious, but the unfortu-
nate hypothesis which he adopted, that the Irish
were not Celts, led him to endeavour to seek
arguments to support that cherished opinion.

The Lord's Prayer, in the alleged language
of the Waldenses, which Chamberlayne published
in 1700, is a strong instance of his being led
away by false lights, and produced a long chap-
ter. What Chamberlayne published as Walden-
sic 9 has since been ascertained to bear no re-
semblance whatever to the true language of that
interesting people, although it is unquestionably
Gaelic.

There is something very bewitching in etymo-
logy. Having read Vallancey, an unbiassed
mind is compelled to acknowledge the force of
many of his deductions but still is not often
convinced of their accuracy. The strong si-
milarity of the names of the Irish heroes and
deities with those of the east ; and their having
the same, or very similar, attributes, often bear-
ing two or three names, all equally common
and germane to these tongues, are striking and,
apparently, unanswerable facts, to show a com-

VALLANCEY. 13

mon origin, and would seem to establish the given
hypothesis ; but a close reasoner will look more
into the detail. The General tells you the Hin-
doos borrowed much, if not the greater part, of
their mythology from the Chaldeans ; so did the
Phenicians and antient Arabians, therefore,
it does not follow that the Irish must be Indo-
Scythians, because they have a community in
some parts of their mythology with the Brahmins.
The Phenicians having first traded with Ireland,
may have colonized it, which is a more natural
way of accounting for the existence of the
Chaldean mythology in Ireland, than bringing
a colony of Indo- Scythians to that country.
Dr. Vincent, on very strong grounds, doubts
that such a people as the Indo-Scythians ever
existed. Certainly, the most extraordinary
postulate of the General was, that the Irish na-
tion were not Celts. He says :

" To all these oriental words, and terms of ex-
pression, the Celtic nations were strangers ; and,
in my humble opinion, they are strong corrobo-
rating proofs that the ancient Irish were de-
scended of the Indo-Scythians, Bologues, Oma-
nites, and Dedanites of Chaldea, as their history
sets forth.

" And yet there are some English authors,

14 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

and modern ones, of great learning 1 , in other re-
spects, who will, right or wrong, make the Irish
a Celtic nation, and derive both the Irish and
Welsh from the antient Britons"*

The General knew well there was little affinity
between the Welsh and Irish languages, and
that one or other of them was not Celtic. This
is a fact which the most superficial investigation
of the two cannot fail to demonstrate ; there are,
certainly, some words to be found in the former
which are also Irish, but they are, evidently, bor-
rowed by the Welsh, who succeeded the Gael in
the possession of Wales. The mistake of the
General was, taking it for granted that the Welsh
and its dialects were the same as the language
of Gaul and Britain in the times of Caesar,
and the Roman sway in Britain. He saw that
one or other was not Celtic ; and having fixed
on the erroneous alternative, and declared the
Irish not to be Celts, immediately set about the
discovery of a new origin for them in the
delta of the Indus, where, the mythology of the
people having had a common origin with that of

* Essay on the Primitive Inhabitants of Great Britain
and Ireland, 1807, p. 605.

VALLANCEY. 15

the Phenicians, he found abundant materials to
encourage his pursuit.

It is very remarkable how blinded the most
intelligent men become when they unfortu-
nately adopt an erroneous hypothesis. Val-
lancey knew the Irish called themselves Gael,
or Gauls, yet he declares them not to be Celtce,
and gives us a long etymological disquisition on
the name in Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian ; first
Gaodhal, to prove them descendants of Japhet,
who in Scripture is styled Gadul. Gaodhal is
pronounced Gael. Secondly, he takes the sound,
or pronunciation Gael, and derives it from
Gcelibh, tribes of merchants . In Arabic, glieli,
negotium magnum, geJUo^, geilios, traffic, com-
merce. The latter is more likely to be the origin
of the name, as the Irish were a colony of Phe-
nicians who were the great merchants of antiquity.
The Scots were also all merchants by profession.

*

One ScuJ
" The Scottish race are all inclined to trade."

Had the General, before he set out on his voy-
age for the discovery of a new origin for the
Irish, but recollected his former writings, in which
he endeavoured to identify the Irish and Pheni-

16 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

cian tongues, and examined the Welsh as well as
the Irish, he would soon have discovered that the
pretensions of the former to be Celts, were not
tenable : and then his former discoveries would
have come to his aid ; and saved him many labo-
rious, but amusing, and to him no doubt delight-
ful, investigations.

Although the General did not establish the fa-
vourite hypothesis of his advanced age ; yet the
results of his labours are an invaluable magazine
of materials of which a critical and judicious wri-
ter may avail himself with great profit and ad-
vantage.

Sir James Ware, and most if not all English
writers, advocate the position that the first peo-
pling of Britain was from Gaul, and of Ireland
from Britain ; because it is most probable con-
jecture. Sir James says : " But as to the first
inhabitants of Ireland, their opinions seem most
satisfactory to me, who bring them from Britain,
as being the most probable conjecture, as well
on account of the near neighbourhood of Britain,
from whence the passage is easy to Ireland, as
from the language, rites, and customs of the an-

COLONIZATION OF BRITAIN. 17

tient Irish, between which and those of the an-
tient Britons there is greater analogy."*

If the Celtse were settled first in Ireland, and
from thence passed over to Britain and Gaul,
the analogy must have been equally striking, the
inhabitants of each country having, in both cases,
a common origin. Toland says, " I assign more
immediately a British for the Irish, and an Irish
extraction for the Scotch." The whole, how-
ever, is given as a probable conjecture only, and
with reference to the people found in possession,
on the arrival of the Phenician Celtse, it is most
likely true ; but with respect to the Celtse, the
evidence of the antient Greek and Roman wri-
ters, and the historical traditions of the Irish
themselves, tend to show that the tide of emigra-
tion flowed the other way, and that the British
islands were first conquered and colonized by
the Celtse, and subsequently Gaul was subjected
to their yoke.

Even so late as the time of Agricola, we learn
from Tacitus that the ports of Ireland were more
frequented by merchants than those of Britain

* Ware's Antiquities.

18 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

or Gaul, and, if so, this circumstance alone would
suggest a probability, that the colonization of
Ireland was by a mercantile nation, by means of
ships. The Phenicians were adepts in the art of
navigation at a very remote antiquity, and had
ships of great burthen, capable of conveying nu-
merous crews ; so remote, even, that the fact of
the colonization, and even the intercourse, might,
in Caesar's day, have ceased for so many centu-
ries as to have been obliterated in the recollec-
tion of the Britons and Gauls ; this will be made
to appear very satisfactorily when we come to
speak of the acts and history of that illustrious
people.

When the Phenician mariners had once ascer-
tained the passage to, and position of, the British
islands, they certainly could form settlements
thereon for mercantile purposes, and afterwards
send reinforcements to conquer and colonize
their new acquisitions. As well might it be urged
that it was more probable that Australia was peo-
pled from China, than Britain. Give a people
ships, and skill to, navigate them, and the sea is
not an obstacle to but a means of colonization.
Neither is the small area of the mother country
an argument against colonization on a large

COLONIZATION OF BRITAIN. 19

scale the colonies of England at present exceed
by many millions her domestic population.

But there are stronger arguments for the pro-
bability of the colonization of Ireland from sea-
ward : the Celtae possessed Spain, and the an-
tient people, the islands, rocks, headlands, ri-
vers, and estuaries thereof, had Celtic names.
The position of the British islands, on the map,
shows that the Tyrians, or Phenicians, would
make them in their coasting voyages, following
the current, passing the coast of Gaul, from the
Garonne to the Seine, at a great distance, the
very country in which we find the Celtae. The
nearest part of Celtic Gaul to Britain, is Cape
la Hogue, nearly three times the distance of Ca-
lais from Dover. Calais, was in Belgic Gaul,
which comprised all the country from the Seine
to the Rhine, and we know that the Belgae dif-
fered from the Celtae, of Gaul and Britain, in
language, manners, religion, and laws ; if the
Britons had come from the nearest part of Gaul
they would have been Belgae, not Celts, of whom
Caesar tells us a few were settled on the coast
of Britain.

The probabilities, therefore, are rather against
the Celtse coming from the continent to Britain j

20 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

but we do not rest on the uncertain data of pro-
bability, evidence will be brought forward which
will, it is conceived, demonstrate the fact of the
conquest and colonization of Celtica by the Phe-
nicians.

Tacitus distinctly states it as the opinion of
his day, that the first settlers migrated to Celtic
Europe in ships. " The Germans," he says,
" there is reason to think are an indigenous race
and the original natives of the country, without
any admixture of adventitious settlers from other
nations. In the early ages of the world the ad-
venturers who issued forth in quest of new habi-
tations, did not traverse extensive tracts of land,
the first migrations were made by sea in ships.
Even at this day the northern ocean, always ini-
mical to navigation, is seldom traversed by ships
from our parts of the world."*

We learn also from Tacitus that some of the
tribes of Germany were of Celtic origin and set-

* "Ipsos Germanos indigenas crediderim minime que ali-
arum gentium adventibus et hospitiis mixtos : quia nee terra
olim sed classibus advehebantur, qui mutare sedes quaere-
bant. Et immensus ultra, utque sic dixerim adversus oceanus
raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur." Tacitus de Moribus
Germanorum.

CELTiE IN GERMANY. 1

tied in that country in consequence of their pro-
pensity for commerce and mining.

" The Gothinians," he says, " of Germany,
whose country joined Bohemia on the east,
spoke the Gallic tongue, and submitted to the
drudgery of working the mines." Again, " on the
coast to the right of the Suevian ocean the JEsty-
ans have fixed their habitation; in their dress
and manner they resemble the Suevians, but
their language has more affinity to the dialect of
Britain," " they worship the mother of the gods."
" In the cultivation of corn, and other fruits of the
earth, they labour with more patience than is con-
sistent with the natural laziness of the Germans.
Their industry is excited in another instance ;
they explore the sea for amber, in their language
called Glese, and are the only people who gather
that curious substance."*

This word Glese is Celtic, it is gUJf , the

genitive of gt<x/~, the sea, so called from its
green colour. Amber was so called as a produc- ^
tion of the sea. Here we find the commercial
people among the barbarians, and the only word
handed down of their language is Gaelic.

* Tacitus de Morib. Germ. xlv.

%% THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Caesar says the chief god of the Celtse was
Mercury, on account of his being the patron of
merchandize and trade, in other words, that the
propensities of that people were commercial, a
strong ground for presuming them to have been
a colony of the Phenicians, the great trading
people of antiquity.

There is indeed no other way of accounting
for the beautiful specimens of elaborate workman-
ship in gold, silver, copper, and bronze, which
are every day found in such abundance in the
bogs of Ireland, if we deny that the ancient Cel-
tse were a colony of a people considerably ad-
vanced in civilization ; and the united testimony
of antient writers, as well as the names of places
and the tradition of the Irish themselves, all con-
cur to establish that that people were the Pheni-
cians.

We have no certain history of the period when
the Celtse first fixed their residence in Europe.
Herodotus was acquainted with the fact of the
Phenicians having traded to certain islands, be-
yond the pillars of Hercules, for tin. Diodorus
Siculus, Pliny, Strabo, and Plutarch, knew little
more. The most antient of the Greek writers say
that Hercules, (that is the Tyrians) sailed beyond

PHENICIANS. 2S

the pillars of Hercules, and subdued the giants,
Albion and Bergion, among the Celtse, i. e. con-
quered those islands ; and Aristotle says the Phe-
nicians formed settlements in the British islands.
From all which, and the affinity of the Irish and
Phenician languages, and the remains constantly
found in Ireland, we can scarcely err in con-
cluding the Celtse to have been a very early Phe-
nician colony who, like their modern imitators, as
before suggested, first formed settlements in Spain,
Ireland, Britain, and Gaul, for commercial pur-
poses, and afterwards sent military expeditions
to conquer and secure their colonies. That the
Tyriaiis were quite competent to such an under-
taking will appear in our next chapter. This is
concluded with an extract from the singularly
laborious and learned work, I regret to add, of
the late Godfrey Higgins, whose learning and in-
genuity were equal to his eccentricity.

Ch. II. 39. " The Irish claim to have been
colonies from Phoenicia, but it is affirmed that
there is no ancient evidence, except in the Irish
records, that the Phoenicians ever made any set-
tlements in Ireland. This really amounts to no
objection, when it is to be considered that all the
records of the Sidonians and Tyrians, have long
since disappeared from natural causes ; that those

24t THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

of the Carthaginians were destroyed by the Ro-
mans ; and that afterwards, Patrick, or the monks,
followed and destroyed all they could lay their
hands on ; but the assertion is not quite correct.

"Gorjonides, in his book De Hannibale, says,
that Hannibal conquered the Britons, who dwelt
in the islands of the ocean.

" Selden was of opinion that our islands were
the fortunate islands of the Greeks. Isaac Tzetzes,
who cannot be supposed to have any Irish prejudice,
or esprit du corps, says ; "In oceano insula ilia
Britannia, inter Britanniam illam quse sita est in
occidente et Thylen quse adorientemmagisvergit."
Justus Lipsius, quotes the following passage from
Aristotle : In inari extra lierculis columnas,
insulam desertam inventam fuisse, silva nemoro-
eam, fluviis navigabilem, fructibus uberem, mul-
torum dierum navigatione distantem, in quam
crebro Carthaginienses commearint, et multisedes
etiam fixerunt ; sed veritos primores ne minis loci
illius opes convalescerent, et Carthaginis laberen-
tur, edicto cavisse et poena capitis sanxisse, nequis
eo navigasse deinceps vellet,"*

Arist. in admirandis.

GODFREY HIGGINS. 25

" Lipsius then expresses his opinion that this
cannot apply to the Canaries, but to the British
islands only ; and in this I quite concur with Lip-
sius, who lived in the 12th century, in Germany,
and therefore cannot be supposed to have been
infected by Colonel Vallancey. The question of
the antiquity of Ireland has not perhaps been ju-
diciously managed ; Colonel Vallancey, and
others, have attempted a great deal too much,
and seem to have begun at the wrong end. They
ought first to have endeavoured to show by ex-
ternal Greek and Roman evidence, like that from
Aristotle given above, that there had been some
communication or settlement of the Phoenicians
made in the country. This expedition from Car-
thage is said to have been commanded by Han-
nibal ; that very name instantly, in the minds of
most persons, will throw a degree of discredit on
the story. It will immediately strike them that
Hannibal must have had something else to do
than to explore unknown countries; and thus
the foolish, and in fact deceitful method of ren-
dering the word, injures the object it meant to
serve. Nobody can doubt that it was intended by
the translator to mean the great Hannibal ; the
mode of translation conveys that idea, when pro-
bably the original means no such thing. Han-
nibal was as common a name in Carthage as

26 THHE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Walker or Wood in England. I think the quo-
tation from Aristotle is enough, when combined
with circumstances which have been noticed, to
satisfy any person that there was a settlement of
Carthaginians in Ireland, from whom many of
their customs and antiquities may have been de-
rived. It is not unlikely that this may have been
the Milesian settlement of which so much has
been said. It may have consisted in part, or in
the whole, of Carthaginians from Spain, at that
time under the yoke of Carthage. On the above
passage of Aristotle's, Lipsius observes, " Quod
verum censeo de una aliqua novarum insularum :
quia multos dies navigatione impendet, neque
probabile igitur Canarias aut alias vicinas fuisse.
Noster Seneca nam ille Tragediae Medese certo
est de iis ipsis preedixisse videtur, fecerit de-
cantatum

venient annis

Ssecula seris, quibus oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos
Deteget orbes, nee sit terris
Ultima Thule.

" A time will come, in ages now remote, when the
vast barrier by the ocean formed, may yield a
passage ; when new continents and other worlds,
beyond the sea's expanse may be explored ; when

GODFREY HIGGINS. 27

Thule's distant shores may not be deemed the
last resort of man." " Quid ille tamen proprie
de Britannicis insulis intellexit, et in Claudii
gratiam scripsit." J. Lipsius, vol. iv. p. 494.

" The marks of the patriarchal people appear
to be much stronger with the Irish than any
other people of the British isles. This may have
arisen naturally from some cause, which makes
it stronger in the isles of Scotland, Tcolmkill, or
Wales, than in England, their secluded situation
preserving them from admixture with foreigners.
Besides, it is probable that the colony brought from
Carthage, under the Hannibal of whom we have
spoken, would tend to keep the Phoenician cus-
toms alive, if a former Phoenician colony had
arrived, instead of destroying them, as the influx
of Romans, Saxons, &c. would tend to do in Bri-
tain."

"It is only necessary to observe here, that
Aristotle lived near two centuries before the great
Hannibal, consequently what he said could not
refer to that individual."*

Celtic Druids, ch. ii. 39.

*fr.

t ^t*W*

i

//* i-

t *

fv

' ^ ^ v^ ^* J

--*' ^'

THE PHENICIANS.

CHAPTER II.

Skill of the antients in navigation underrated Jason's Expe-
dition History of the Phenicians EzekieVs description of
Tyre Great extent of Tyrian commerce 600 years before
Christ, then a commercial city of great antiquity, had exten-
sive manufactories Tarshish, its various meanings Hero-
dotus commences his history with the Phenicians Original
country of that people Not Canaanites, but Chaldeans
Vallancey Carthage Greeks borrowed their letters from
them Circumnavigate Africa from the Red Sea, and re-
turn by Gibraltar Ships supplied by them to Xerxes in his
invasion of Greece, their dress, and armour Deities Baal,
Moloch, Thammuz, Astaroth, Chiun, Remphan, Dagon, Rim-
mon Seven Chapels of Moloch passing through the fire
Different adjuncts to Baal BaalSamin, fyc. Baal, the Sun.

THE advancement of the antients in the sci-
ence of navigation has been much underrated ;
the first attempt of Jason, and his Argonauts, to
Colchis, has led to the conclusion, that before
that period nautical skill was very low, and ship-

30 THE GAEL.

building' confined to small craft; but the truth
was otherwise. When the Greeks were in a
state of comparative barbarism, the Tyrian and
Sidonian navigators had explored not only the
Mediterranean, but the Atlantic, beyond the pil-
lars of Hercules, to the coasts of Spain, Gaul,
and the British islands, and the northern coasts
of Africa, were well acquainted with the In-
dian ocean, and sent to most parts thereof com-
mercial fleets in their seasons, with all the regu-
larity of adepts in the arts of navigation and
commerce \ and, with the exception of the want
of acquaintance with the magnetic needle, ap-
pear to have been equal to the accomplishment
of most of the voyages achieved in modern times.
They were also great manufacturers as well as
merchants.

The following brief statement of the leading
points of the history of that great people, is
here given to illustrate and elucidate the objects
of the work generally, by enabling the reader
to compare the language, religion, and institu-
tions of the Phenicians, with those of the Celtee.

Phoenicia, or Phenice, was the antient name
of a very small country, between the 34th and
36th degrees of north latitude, on the sea- cost
of Syria, and was bounded on the north and east

DESCRIPTION OF TYRE. 31

by Syria proper, by Judea, or Palestine, on the
south, and the Mediterranean on the west. The
northern boundary is made by Ptolemy the river
Eleutherus, but Pliny, Mela, and Stephanus,
place it further north in the island of Aradus ;
it most likely varied at different periods. On
the coast where the following cities, Simyra, Or-
thoria, Tripolis, Betrys, Byblus, Palsebyblus, Be-
rytus, Sidon, Sarepta, Tyrus, and Palsetyrus. The
climate is agreeable and salubrious, and the soil
fertile and productive. It is watered by many
small streams, which, running down from Mount
Libanus, are often rapid and much swelled by the
melting of snow and heavy rains ; among them
is the river Adonis.

The description of Tyre, by the Prophet Eze-
kiel,* gives a splendid picture of the magnificence,
wealth, and power, as well as the refinement and
civilization, of that antient emporium of com-
merce.

" Say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at
the entry of the sea, and carry on merchandize
with the people of many isles ; thus, saith the

* Ezekiel, xxvii. chap. 1.

THE GAEL.

Lord God, O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of
perfect beauty.

" Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy
builders have perfected thy beauty. They have
made all thy ship-boards of fir trees of Senir,
and have taken cedar trees of Lebanon to make
thy masts.

" Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine
oars ; the company of the Ashurites have made
thine hatches of well-worked ivory, brought out
the isles of Chittim.

" It was of fine linen and Phrygian broidered
work from Egypt which thou madest thy spread-
ing sails ; and thy covering was of the blue and
purple of the isles of Elishah.

" The Sidonians and the men of Arvad were
mariners in thy service, and knowing men, thy pi-
lots, O Tyre, were in thee.

" The elders of Gabal, and their able work-
men, were those who calked the seams of thy ves-
sels, and all the ships of the sea were employed
in carrying thy merchandise.

DESCRIPTION OF TYRE. 33

" The men of Persia, Lydia, and Lybia, were in
thy service, and thy men of war : they hanged
up their shields and helmets with thee, and exhi-
bited the excellence of thy beauty.

" The men of Arvad were also of thine army,
and seen upon thy walls, and the Gammadins
were on thy towers, they hung- their shields
upon thy walls round about ; they have made
thy appearance perfect.

" The merchants of Tarshish traded at thy
fairs on account of the great variety of all kind
of thy riches, and brought silver, iron, tin, and
lead to thy market.

" Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, brought slaves*
and vessels of brass to thy market.

" They of the house of Thogormah brought
horsemen, horses, and mules to thy fairs.

" The men of Dedan were among thy mer-
chants, and many isles supplied thine hand, and

* Persons of men.

34 THE GAEL.

brought thee, as presents, ebony and horns of
ivory.

" Syria traded with thee also for the numerous
articles of thy manufacture, for which they brought
to thy fairs emeralds, purple, broidered work,
and fine linen, coral, and agate.

" Judah, and the land of Israel, traded also with
thee, and sent to thy markets the wheat of Min-
nith and Pannag, honey, oil, and balm.

" Damascus for the multitude of thy wares and
great riches, sent thee the wine of Chelbon, and
white wool.

" Dan and Javan, going to and fro, attended
thy fairs, and markets, with manufactured iron,
sweet-smelling cassia, and calamus.

" Dedan supplied thee with precious cloths for
covering of thy chariots.

" Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, sent
lambs, rams, and goats, to thy markets.

" The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, sup-

DESCRIPTION OF TYRE. 35

plied thy fairs with the richest spices, precious
stones, and gold.

" The merchants of Charan, Canneh, Eden,
Sheba, Assyria, and Chilmad, supplied thee with
all kinds of excellent things, as blue cloths,
Phrygian embroidery, chests of rich apparel, made
of cedar, and bound with cords.

" The ships of Tarshish did sing in praise of
thy commerce, and thou wert replenished and
made glorious in every part of the ocean.

" Thy rowers brought thee into great waters ;
the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of
the seas."

" What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed
in the midst of the sea ?

" When thy wares went forth out of the seas,
thou fillest many people ; thou didst enrich the
kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches
and thy merchandize."

Again, in chapter xxviii.

" Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus

D 2

36 THE GAEL.

saith the Lord God ; because thine head is lifted
up, and thou hast said, I am powerful as God, I
sit in the seat of God, and command in the midst
of the seas."

" Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ;
every precious stone was thy covering, the sar-
dius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx,
and the jasper, the sapphire, and the carbuncle,
and gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets and
thy pipes."

The 23d chapter of Isaiah, describes the over-
throw of Tyre :

" The burden of Tyre, Howl ye ships of Tarsh-
ish,* (the ocean) for it is laid waste, so that there

* Junius and Tremellius, render Tarshish, oceanus (or
western sea) it is presumed on account of its western posi-
tion, or ignorance of its precise meaning. But Tarshish could
not always mean the ocean, for the prophet Jonah took ship
to go to Tarshish, which, therefore, must have been a place
on shore. They also render Tarshish, in the Book of Jonah,
Tarsusy and say in a note, " oppidum maritimum postea ap-
pellatum Joppen" It is more than probable that Tarshish
was often put for the western ocean. Carthage and Cadiz
have also been considered Tarshish.

DESCRIPTION OF TYRE. 37

is no house, no entering in, from the land of
Chittim it is revealed to them.

" Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle : thou
whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the
sea, have replenished with revenue from the ocean,
and the seed of Sihor from the harvest of the
river ; she is the mart of nations.

" Be thou ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea hast
spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I tra-
vail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I
bring up young men or virgins.

" As at the news concerning Egypt's disasters,
so shall they be sorely pained at the report re-
specting Tyre.

" Pass ye over to Tarshish ; howl ye inhabitants
of the isle.*

" Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is

* Junius and Tremellius in their translation of the Scrip-
tures, gives this passage : " Transite per oceanum, eju-
tate habitatores insulse." Tyre was rebuilt on an island, af-
ter Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the old city.

38 THE GAEL.

ofantient days ? her own feet shall carry her far
off to sojourn.

" Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre,
the crowned city, whose merchants are princes,
and whose traffickers are the honourable of the
earth ?

" The Lord of hosts hath purposed it to stain
the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt
the honourable of the earth.

" Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter
of Tarshish, (the ocean) there is no more strength,
Howl ye ships of (the ocean) Tarshish for your
strength is laid waste."

No one after reading these descriptions of the
state of Tyre, written about the year 590, before
the Christian era, can question that the Pheni-
cians were competent to send large ships to the
British islands, or doubt that they did so. They
built their ships of fir, and made masts of the
cedar of Lebanon, and traded to all parts of
the then known world, and for every descrip-
tion of merchandize. Their manufactures also
were of great extent. " The multitudes of the ar-
ticles of thy making.' 3

TARSHISH. 39

Tarshish supplied them with silver y iron, tin,
and lead. Now tin exists not in any part of
Europe but in Britain, therefore that island must
have been at least part of Tarshish, but as before
is suggested, Tarshish meant the western ocean,
and the countries situated upon it.

Tarshish, in Hebrew, tfcMttnn is the name
of a precious stone, rendered a beryl in our
translation of the Scriptures ; but it is not of
Hebrew derivation, or from any Hebrew root,
therefore, most likely, its name was obtained from
the country in which the stone was found,*
some consider it a chrysolite, which it probably
was. It is mentioned in the 28th and 39th chap-
ter of Exodus, and, if this idea be correct, Tarshish
was known to the Phenicians, full 1500 years
before the Christian era, which is also agreeable
to what Isaiah says, speaking of Tyre. " Your
joyous city, whose antiquity is of antient days."
There can, indeed, be little doubt of the traf-
fic to Tarshish, by the Tyrians, at a very remote

* Jacob Rodrigues Moriera, a Spanish Jew, in his Kehilath
Jahacob, or Hebrew Vocabulary, renders Tarshish Car-
thage, and "ttnn Carshiiy and O3ip Cartena, a Carthaginian.
He also makes the stone a Sardius. The true meaning of
both was evidently uncertain.

40 THE GAEL.

antiquity. At the time when Ezekiel wrote the
Tyrians must have been upwards of 1000 years
a mercantile people, it is almost puerile to sup-
pose they were not adepts at navigation after
so long a practice.

Tarshish applied to the western countries,
and, if the Gaelic language and that of the Phe-
nicians were the same, which I see no reason to
doubt, its meaning, is very strong corrobora-
tion of the Phenician origin of the Celtse. It is
tty, country J<x/i, western ylof, down in
that is literally the western country or the
country down in the west, pronounced Tiarshish.
It is that sort of denomination which the moderns
have imitated, in the West Indies, meaning all
the northern parts of South America ; East In-
dies, meaning the two peninsulas and the Indian
islands, including the ocean in both cases.
Tarshish, therefore, may be considered all the
western parts of Europe conquered, settled, or
traded with, by the Phenicians.

It is worthy of remark that Csesar says the
Britons had mines of silver, iron, tin, and lead,
but that they imported brass. Ezekiel says, the
ships of Tarshish supplied Tyre with these very
metals, and those only.

HERODOTUS. 41

Tarshish, is mentioned as one of the sons of
Javan, son of Japliet ; but, as all Hebrew names
were significant, his descendants might have
had the name from their position in the west.
Elisha and Chittim, mentioned as the bre-
thren of Tarshish, were the alledged ancestors of
the Greeks and Macedonians.

Herodotus commences his history with an ac-
count of the origin of the Phenicians, whom he
considered as the earliest of civilized nations.
He says :

" The most learned Persians, in the history
of their country, attribute to the Phenicians the
cause of the enmity between them and the Greeks.
They say that being come from the neighbour-
hood of the Red Sea to the coast of (the Mediter-
ranean) our sea, soon after they had established
themselves in the country which they now inhabit,
they undertook long voyages by sea, and carried
the merchandize of Egypt and Tyre to many
countries, and among others, to Argos, a city
which surpassed all others at that time in Greece.
They add, that the Phenicians being arrived, set
about selling their goods. Five or six days after
their arrival, the wind being low, a great many

4 THE GAEL.

women, and among them the king's daughter,
whose name was lo, the daughter of Inachus, a
name also given to the Greeks, went down to
the shore to purchase such things as were agree-
able to their taste, near the stern of the ships ;
the Phenicians rushed upon, seized them, and
forced the princess, and some others, on board
the vessels, and having made sail proceeded to
Egypt."

It appears from this that the Phenicians be-
fore they settled in that part of Asia Minor,
called from them Phenicia, inhabited the coasts
of the Red Sea. But being an enterprizing mer-
cantile people they carried their merchandize
across the deserts to the Mediterranean, formed
settlements there and built the celebrated cities
of Tyre and Sidon. The distance from which,
to their Phenician town on the Red Sea, was not
more than two or three hundred miles.

The Homeritae, who inhabited the southern
part of Arabia Felix, were also called, by the
Greeks, Phenicians, and that name in Arabic,
means the same thing as Phenicia in Greek. They
inhabited the city of Sanaa, on the western branch

HERODOTUS. 43

of the Hargiah river, which is marked in the map
of M. D'Anville, Cana Emporium. This river
discharges itself into the Indian ocean. Other
authors bring the Phenicians from the Persian
Gulph ; and Strabo gives that opinion, without
his authority. Afterwards, having cited a verse
of Homer, referring to the Sidonians, he adds :
" It is not known whether we should understand
by these Sidonians, those who inhabit the Gulph
of Persia, or those our neighbours, who are a
colony."

Dionisius, the Periegite, is of the same opi-
nion as Herodotus, he says : " The Syrians who
live near the sea, and are called Phenicians, are
descended from the Erythreans. They were the
first who traversed the seas in ships.*

Thus we see that the Phenicians were not

/ >/ '

Canaanites, except by residence, that is, they

A J J

were not the descendants of Canaan. And, if
from the Persian Gulf, they were a colo-
ny of Chaldeans, therefore the similarity of
their language, religion, and customs, to the
Indians, who borrowed so much from that people,

* Dion. Pericg. Descript, vcrs. 105.

44 THE GAEL.

is not so very wonderful. It would be singu-
lar if it was not striking.

^/General Vallancey makes the Phenicians Mag-
gogian -Scythians, and the first astronomers, na-
vigators, and traders, after the flood ; who set-
tled in Armenia, and afterwards passed down the
Euphrates to the Persian Gulph, into the In-
dian ocean, to the Red Sea ; and eventually to
the Mediterranean Sea, to Tyre and Sidon. This

* A *

idea is indeed consistent with the account
of Herodotus, who brings them from Chal-
dea. But it is not so much the object of this
work to show from whom the Phenicians des-
cended, as to demonstrate their capability of mak-

*

ing long voyages, their skill in navigation, and
enterprizing spirit of colonization, and that the
* Celtae were colonies of that people./

The intense labour of Vallancey's investigations,
is astonishing, but it is very difficult to follow
him through the mazes of his etymological la-
byrinth ; the mind becomes fatigued by tracing
words through so many etymons, and the extent of
his researches, plunges us into great perplexity
and doubt, instead of satisfying the mind. It is
not just, however, to condemn Vallancey for not
having his evidences arranged and systematized,

HERODOTUS.

lie only undertook to collect, leaving others to
methodize and place in intelligible order. He
often establishes his premises, but again bewilders
by the multiplicity of his proofs, some of which
are not of the strongest or most palpable, and
frequently weakens his argument by adding slen-
der testimony on a point already established.

" Cambyses, (king of Persia) commanded his
fleet to attack Carthage, buf the Phenicians
refused to obey him, because they were attached
to the Carthaginians by their oaths and the strong-
est of ties, and considered that if they were to
fight against their own children, they would violate
the rights of blood and religion. The rest of
the fleet were not found strong enough for the
expedition, so the Carthaginians escaped the yoke
which was prepared for them. Cambyses did not
think it prudent to force the Phenicians, because
they rendered him service voluntarily, and be-
cause they possessed so much influence in the
fleet."*

The Greeks had letters from the Phenicians.t

* Herodotus in Thalia, xix. f Terpsichore Iviii.

46 THE GAEL,

Herodotus says : " Whilst they remained in the
country (Greece) the Phenicians, who had ac-
companied Cadmus, among whom were the
Gephreans, introduced much science and in-
formation, and amongst other things, letters,
which in my opinion were unknown before.
The letters were first used in the same manner
as among the Phenicians ; but afterwards changed
with the language, and took a novel form. The
neighbouring country of the colony was occupied-
by the lonians, who adopted the letters in which
the Phenicians had instructed them, but they
made some slight alterations. It would only have
been good faith and but justice to have called the
letters Phenician, because that people introduced
letters into Greece. The lonians also, by an
antient custom, call the books (Si<0pa!) skins,
because at the time, when the (BujSXoc) Papyrus
was scarce, they wrote on the skins of goats and
sheep, it is still the custom among the barbari-
ans to write on all kinds of skins./

/ Herodotus in Melpomene, c. xlii. speaking of
Africa, by the name of Lybia, says : " Lybia is
surrounded by the sea, except on that side where
she is joined to Asia. Pharaoh Necho, king of
Egypt, (who reigned between the years 61 6 and
600 ante Christum) was the first, as far as we

HERODOTUS. 4?

know, who ascertained this fact. At the time he
camsed to be discontinued the digging- of the canal
which was intended to convey the waters of the
Nile to the Red Sea, he sent certain Phenician {
ships to sea, with orders to proceed southward to
circumnavigate Africa, and return by the Pillars
of Hercules, in the northern seas, and so to re-
turn to Egypt."

" The Phenicians embarked in the Erythrean
(Red) Sea, sailed into the southern ocean, and,
when autumn was come, they went a shore, in that
part of the coast of Africa which they had reach-
ed, and sowed corn ; waited till harvest, and
when they had obtained supplies of provision,
again put to sea. Having thus navigated for
two years, in the third, they arrived at the Pillars
of Hercules, (the Straits of Gibraltar,) and re-
turned safely to Egypt. They stated on their
return that they had sailed entirely round Africa,
and had the sun on their right hand. This fact
appears to me incredible, but it may not to
another. It was in this manner Africa was
known for the first time."

It is here established that the Phenicians,
undoubtedly, doubled the Cape of Good Hope
upwards of six hundrf^ years before the Christian
era, an achievement which the Portuguese ac-

48 THE GAEL.

complished upwards of two thousand years after,
and obtained the greatest glory by discovering
the way to India by sea. That it was done, is
proved by the fact of the voyagers' statement of
the sun appearing on their right hand, or to the
north, of them. A fact which the historian did
not credit, but which is now known to be true,
and confirms the accuracy and truth of the state-
ment^/

Who will after this glorious enterprize of the
Phenicians, discredit the regular voyages of that
enterprising, intelligent, and gallant people, to
the British islands, or their capability of accom-
plishing a voyage not attended with half its diffi-
culties or 'dangers. This fact is sufficient to
satisfy any rational mind, that the Phenician na-
vigators were not far behind the moderns in
nautical skill, and that in daring enterprize they
were their equals.

M. L* Archer, blinded by his Greek predelic-
tions, did not wish to admit that the Greeks had
no knowledge of letters before the time of Cad-
mus, says the letters of the Phenicians were in-
troduced at that time, but that the Pelasgic cha-
racter was known long before. It is not an im-
portant point in the consideration of our subject,
but it appears very explicitly laid down as his

THE PHENICIANS. 49

opinion by Herodotus, that the Greeks were
indebted to the Phenicians for the first knowledge
of letters.

Herodotus mentions* that the vessels which
formed the fleet of Xerxes in his invasion of
Greece was 1207, an d f tna t number the Phe-
nicians furnished 300.

Diodorus differs but in seven ships.

Diodorus.

(Egyptians
Phenicians

Cicilians

Carians

.a

(M

Pamphylians -

Cl

pq

Lycians

. Cyprians

.

"Dorians

CO

M

QJ

Eolians

2 <

lonians

Hellespontians

. Islanders

Herodotus.

200 Phenicians - - 300

300 Egyptians - 200

80 Cyprians - - 150

80 Cicilians - - 100

40 Pamphylians - - 30

40 Lycians - 50

150 Dorians - 50

40 Carians - - 70

40 lonians - - 100

100 Islanders - 17

80 Eolians - - 60

50 Hellespontians - 100

1200 1207

" The Phenicians and Syrians of Palestine, fur-
nished three hundred. These people wore hel-
mets very like those of the Greeks^ shirts of

* Polyhymnia Ixxxix.

f We give an engraving of a Phenician soldier in bronze
found in a bog in Ireland. The whole description here given
exactly corresponds with the weapons and remains found in
Ireland.

50 THE GAEL.

linen, had darts, or javelins, and shields, but
not edged with iron.

" The Phenicians, as they say themselves, dwell-
ed in former times on the coasts of the Erythrean
(Red) sea, but passing 1 from thence to the coast
of Syria, there established themselves. That part
of the country, with that extending to the very
frontiers of Egypt, is called Palestine."

From the idolatry of the Phenicians, the Greeks,
and other European nations, borrowed most of
their deities ; their gods were Baal, Moloch,
Thammuz, Astaroth, Chiun, Rempham, Dagon.
Moloch) sometimes called Molech and Milcom.
Baal and Moloch have been supposed the
same, from the similarity of the import of their
names T7D Malek, to rule, or light which rules
the heavens ; also a king, and *7J73 Baal, which
signifies Lord and Master.* They had both the
same manner of worship. " They sacrificed their
sons for burnt offerings unto Baal likewise ;t yea,
they built the high places of Baal, which are in
the valley of Benhinnom, to cause their sons to
pass through the fire unto Molech."t In which

* The Gaelic rnolc isjire.
J- Jer.. xix. 5. J Jer. xxxii. 35.

THE PHENICIANS. 51

passage Molech, apparently, is put at the end to
explain Baal, with which the sentence commences,
the locality is the same for the place of sacrifice.

Some authorities, however, make them differ-
ent, because the planet Jupiter was worshipped
under the name of Baal, and Saturn under the
name of Moloch. There is, however, much
confusion on the subject ; the sun is sometimes
called Baal, sometimes Moloch, sometimes Ju-
piter, and often Saturn. The Greeks gave the
names of their own gods to the deities of other
nations, whose attributes were similar. " Hence,
(says Goodwin*) Jupiter was called by the Phe-
nicians, Baal-samen, which name is derived from
the Hebrew, sourideth as much as Jupiter Olyvnpi*
cus, the Lord of heaven ; for Baal signifies Lord
and Shamaim, heaven. And what is this Lord
of heaven, in the theology of the heathens, other
than the sun ? who may as well be stiled the king
of heaven, as the moon, the queen. Yea Sancho?
niotho, as Eusebius in the forequoted place,! re*
lates him, taketh all three for one, namely, Sun,
Jupiter, and Baal-samen"

* Moses and Aaron, Lib. iv. c. 2.
f Kuofbius do prepar- lib. i. cap. 7,

.0^ THE AEL.

" Saturn's image differed little from that of
Moloch, and people sacrificed their sons and
daughters to both.* " Saturn's image" was made
of brass, wonderful for its greatness, whose hands,
reaching towards the earth, were so hollow, (rea-
dy to claspe) that the youths who were compelled
to come unto him did fall, as it were, into a
mighty ditch full of fire." Jalkut in his commen-
taries on Jeremiah, t says : " Though all other
houses of idolatry were in Jerusalem, yet Moloch
was without the gates in a private place. How
was he made ? He was an image of brasse, he
had seven chapels, and he was placed before them,
having the face of a bullock and hands spread
abroad^ like a man that openeth his hand to re-
ceive somewhat from some other ; and they set it
on fire within, for it was hollow ; and every man
severally entered according to his offering. After
what manner ? Whosoever offered a fowl went to
the first chapel ; he that offered a sheep to the 2d ;
a lamb to the 3d ; a calf to the 4th ; a bullock
to the 5th ; an ox to the 6th ; and whoever offered
his son to the 7^h. Thus Moloch and Saturn
agree, first in their sacrifice, and secondly in the
form of their images."

* Macrobius's Saturn, lib. i. c. 7*
f Chap. vii. fol. 97, col. i.

THE PHENICIANS. 53

" These seven chapels resemble the seven gates
with which the Persians honoured the sun, and
mystically represent the seven planets, of which
the Sun was Moloch, or king. When they sacri-
ficed their sons, they beat tabrets and drums, that
the cry of the child might not be heard by the
father, from which the place was called Tophet
from qn ? Tlioph, signifying a drum.

* c Some commentators say the children were
burned, while others assert they were only ini-
tiated, or consecrated to Moloch, passing between
two fires, as the ceremony of consecration. It
is probable both were in use. The Scriptures
mention both, as do also the Hebrew Doctors.
Jalkut expressly says they were burned ; and
AbenEzra,* says, " That Moloch is the name of
an image, and the wise men, of blessed memory,
interpret Moloch to be an universal name, denot-
ing any whom they made to rule over them ; and
it is agreed that this was an abomination of the
sons of Ammon, and this phrase to pass through,
is as much as to burn." Rabbi Solomon^ says :
" This idol's name was Moloch, and this was his
worship : that he (a father) delivered his son unto

* Lev. xvii. 21. f Lev. xviii. 21,

54 THE GAEL.

the priests, and they made two great fires ; and
they made the son pass, on his feet, between both
these fires."

" The offering* of a son or daughter, however, it
is considered, was reputed a work of great merit,
and was not enjoined by any law, but only a mark
of great zeal, or the performance of some vow*
The priests of Baal in their contest with Elijah,*
offered a bullock ; but the priests wounded and
cut themselves after their manner, thus making a
sacrifice of their own blood. Lactantius mentions
this custom as practised by the priests of Bellona,
61 they sacrificed not with any other men's blood
but their own, their shoulders being lanced, and
with both hands brandishing naked swords, they
ran and leaped up and down like mad men."
This description is very like what is said of the
priests of Baal. * 5 They leaped upon the altar,
and cut themselves with knives and lancets, after
their manner, till the blood gushed out upon
them."

" Porphry, treating of Saturn, saith that the
Phenicianst called him Israel, and that he had by

* 1 Kings, xviii.
f Eusebius prepar, Evan. lib. i. c. 7. p. 17.

THE PHENIC1ANS. 55

one only son called Jeud in the Pheni-
cian language, no doubt from the Hebrew Jechid,
only begotten, and applied to Isaak,* which he
offered upon an altar purposely prepared."

The sun and stars were worshipped under the
names of Chiun and Remphan. " Ye have borne
the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun, your
images, the star of your god, which ye have made
for yourselves."t Again, " Ye took up the ta-
bernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god
Remphan"^ In some copies this latter is
called Repham, and was probably the same as
Rimmon.

" The Egyptians called Hercules Chon, and
by Rephain we are to understand Hercules also
for D'XSl Rephaim, signifies giants. Hercules
is derived by some from the Hebrew b3"VNn
Haircol, illuminavit omnia, the giver of all light.
The Greek etymology is similar, ypag /cXtoc, and
both designate that brilliancy which flows from
the fountain of light the sun. Porphry interprets
the twelve labours of Hercules to be the twelve
signs of the Zodiack, through which the sun an-

* Gen. xxii. 2. f Amos, v. 26. j Acts, vii. 43.

56 THE GAEL.

nually passes. In the time of the Macchabees,
Jason, the high priest, sent 300 drachms of silver
to the sacrifice of Hercules,* the god of the
Tyrians.

Thammuz, St. Jerome says, was Adonis, which
is generally interpreted the Sun, from the He-
brew Adon, signifying lord, the same as Baal,
and Moloch, the prince or lord of the planets.
Our month of June was called by the Jews Ta-
muz, and the entrance of the sun into Cancer,
they called Tekupha Tamuz, the revolution of
Tamuz. The death, or loss, of Adonis is supposed
to allude to the departure of the sun twice a year
to the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The
women weeping for Thammuz is the origin of
weeping for Adonis. A river of Phenicia was de-
dicated to Adonis.

Baal bore many adjuncts to his name, as Baal-
samen, Baal-Peor, Baal-Tsephon, Baal-zebub,
Baal-Berith, and Bel.

The sun was the original Baal, but afterwards
it became a name to many Deities. " There are

* 2 Macch. iv. 19.

THE PHENICIANS. 57

many gods many Baalims or lords,"* in the
same way as Jupiter has many names added to
his general title. Jupiter Olympius, Capitolinus,
Latialis, Pluvius, Lucetius, Tonans, fyc.

Baal-Peor, was called Peor, from the hill where
he was worshipped, and by some is supposed to
be Priapus. His temple was called Beth Peor.
Chemosh is supposed to be the same tfnDD,
so called in derison, as much as to say the blind
god, for the first letter caph, signifies as if, and
musch, to grope or feel about like blind men.

Baal- Tsephon, is Baal the observer or watcher,
(as Jupiter Stator) from nB2f Tsapha, to watch.

Baal-zebub. The Lord of Flies, as Jupiter
Muscarius, or Hercules Muscarius, the driver
away of flies.

Baal-berith some say from the Lord of Co-
venant PHD is a covenant beJ/Om in Gaelic is
To create, and betyjb, he creates, or the creator,
therefore Baal-berith may have been God, the
creator.

1 Cor. viii. 5.

58 THE GAEL.

Bel, or JBelus. The chief divinity of the Chal-
deans and Babylonians, in whose honour the ce-
lebrated tower of Belus was erected, the first and
greatest temple of idolatry, the spring and foun-
tain from which the whole earth became infected
with polytheism ; originally erected in honour of
Belus, or Nimrod, whose pride and insolence
made him assume the name and character of di-
vinity, and who, like Louis XIV. of France, took
the sun for his emblem, and was afterwards wor-
shipped as god, by his besotted successors. He
was the first of men who received the apotheosis.
His sacrifices w r ere by fire, and to his golden image
set up by Nebuchadnezzar, those faithful and un-
daunted Jews were sacrificed, in his accustomed
manner, by being thrown into the fiery furnace,
because they defied the power of the tyrant and
contemned his God.

As Bel, or Baal, was worshipped and sacrificed
to by fire, so was his great temple bowed down,
confounded, and the stones or rocks of his temple
rolled down from their lofty eminence by the fire
of the Almighty, and was made a burnt mountain.*
Recent travellers describe the top of the moun-

* Jeremiah li. 25.

THE PHENICIANS. 69

tain, formed of the debris of the tower, or temple,
of Belus, as covered with " immense fragments
of brick work of no determinate figures tumbled
together, and converted into solid vitrified
masses" " Some of these huge fragments mea-
sure twelve feet in height, by twenty-four in cir-
cumference," " having been exposed to the fiercest
jire, or rather scathed by lightning" " They are
completely molten a strong presumption that
fire was made use of in the destruction of the
tower, which in part resembles what the Scrip-
tures prophesied it should become " a burnt moun-
tain"

The Phenicians, no doubt, brought with them
their idolatry and worship of Bel, or Baal, to the
Red Sea, and after to Tyre and Sidon, and from
thence it was introduced to the Canaanites, and
Jews, who adopted the rites, worship, and even
the name of the deity, and all sacrificed to him
human victims by fire, as did the Celtse.

Dagon some Jewish doctors say this idol was
made like the figure of the fabulous merman, from
the middle downwards like a fish, for jn dag is a
fish. Others derive his name from f jn dagon,
corn, and therefore suppose him to have been Sa-
turn who is said to have invented husbandry.

60 THE GAEL.

Astaroth was a great deity of the Sidonians,
and the moon was worshipped by that name. As-
tarte, some say, was Juno, who was often used to
signify the moon, and both were styled Urania ;
so in regard to the stars she is called Astroarch,
or the queen of planets, and Siderum regina.
Virgil speaks of Juno, " Divum incedo regina,"
it is very probable she was the queen of heaven,
spoken of by Jeremiah.* They who performed
their solemn worship to Juno Calendaris, on the
first day of every month, or Calend, must have
meant the moon. And as Ammon was the sun,
and worshipped in the form of a Ram, Juno
might be called Ammonia, and worshipped in the
form of a sheep. The Jewish Doctors describe
the images of Astaroth as in the form of a sheep,
and the word signifies a flock of sheep. The
moon was called Ammonia, as the sun was Am-
mon, both from their heat n/DH hammah, or
ama, heat, caloric. The images which was placed
on the house top, mentioned in Leviticus xxvi. 30,
and Isaiah xvii. 8 xxvii. 9, were called hamma-
nim, because they were always exposed to the
sun.

* vii. 18 xliv. 17.

THE PHENICIANS. 6l

Jupiter Ammon was figured with horns, be-
cause the astronomer's year commences when the
sun enters Aries, and the sun or Apollo has been
painted with ram's horns for the same reason.
Moses is painted with light, or horns, from a mis-
understanding of the meaning of the Hebrew
word pp corn, signifying horns, but also splen-
dour and magnificence.

Phenicians worshipped their gods in groves
when Jehu called the priests of Baal together,
those of the groves amounted to 450.

This rather minute account of the deities of
the Phenicians, and their immediate neighbours,
is necessary to be detailed as we shall have occa-
sion to show hereafter. That the gods of the
Celtse were the same, not only in their attributes,
but, in some cases, in their very names.

Herodotus supposes the Phenicians to have
been circumcised, but Josephus positively states
that none of the nations of Palestine were cir-
cumcised but the Jews. They were very early
devoted to philosophical duties ; Moschus, a Si-
donian, is said to have taught the doctrine of
atoms, before the Trojan war ; and Abomenus,
a Tyrian, to have puzzled Solomon with his ques-

THE GAEL.

tions. Both Tyre and Sidon produced their phi-
losophers j Boethus and Diodatus, of Sidon, and
Antipater and Apollonius, of Tyre, the latter
gave an account of the writings and disciples of
Zeno.

The Phenicians were so very powerful peo-
ple both by sea and land, that they were able to
defend themselves against Joshua and the Israel-
ites ; David and Solomon were unable to master
them, and were glad to accept their friendship and
alliance ; and lastly, the seige of the city of Tyre
occupied more of the time and exertions of Alex-
ander the Great, than the conquest of all the rest
of Asia. He collected as many ships as he could,
and brought from Lebanon an immense quantity
of cedars and other timber ; with the stones, and
other materials, of the old city of Tyre, which he
threw into the sea, he formed a pier across from
the continent to the island on which the new city
was built. His works were often washed away
by the strength and force of the sea, but with un-
remitted perseverance he persisted till he perfect-
ed his passage to the island ; having reached
their walls, he erected turrets of wood to overtop
them, and thus became master of the city. He
put to the sword all who resisted, and cruelly
caused two thousand prisoners to be hanged along

THE PHENICIANS. 63

the shore, in a line, to strike terror in his oppo-
sers ; upwards of 15,000 escaped in ships, and fled
to their colonies.

Long before this utter desolation by Alexander,
Salmanassar, the king of Assyria, having conquer-
ed the ten tribes of Israel, besieged Tyre by
land, blockading it by sea with sixty ships, which
were soon attacked by the Tyrians with twelve
sail, who took or dispersed his fleet, and made
five hundred prisoners. The Assyrians after this
continued the siege for eleven years, but eventu-
ally were compelled to raise it with disgrace to
their arms, and great glory to the Tyrians.

Shortly after the repulse of Salmanassar, and
about two hundred years before Alexander, Ne-
buchodnezzar, after he had destroyed Jerusalem
and its temple, laid siege to Tyre ; the citizens
defended themselves with great bravery and de-
termination for thirteen years, and afterwards re-
tired with their wives, children, and property, to
the island, on which they built a new city, which
became equally prosperous. They thus resisted the
mighty power of the kings of Assyria and Baby-
lon. It is thought, however, that they consented
to become tributaries to the kings of Babylon.
Of the kings of the Tyrians mentioned in the

64 THE GAEL.

Scriptures, Josephus, and other antient writers, it
may be well to say a few words.

Agenor was considered to have been contem-
porary with Joshua, and to have been succeeded
by Phoenix, who is said to have given name to
the country.

Much discussion has taken place as to the deri-
vation and meaning of the name of Phoenicia, with-
out a satisfactory solution. It has always been a
fancy with writers of history, in cases of difficulty,
to fix on an individual, and from him to name a
country, thus to supply the absence of evidence
by surmise. Antient countries and places gene-
rally took their names from their peculiar cha-
racter and circumstances, people, from a dis-
tinguished ancestor. The Phenicians were called
so, because they were a nation of sailors, or mari-
ners, as the word Phcenice intimates jreJne, a
ploughman and oJce, water a plougher of the
sea, a most emphatic and very expressive term.
From this last word oJce, is derived the ocean
o)ce, water cean, head, principal, or chief.
The great or chief water or sea. The Pheni-
cians were the great ploughers of the sea, or
navigators. They were also called Scuits, from
the same cause ycuJte, is a ship, and a wanderer

TYRE. ()5

by sea as well as by land, therefore the Pheni-
cian Irish were called Scoti, and not from their
imaginary country, which last idea is one of those
shrewd but ignorant and unfounded guesses, ven-
tured by a bold writer, and followed by others on
his sole authority, without inquiry or investiga-
tion of its foundation in truth, which have led
subsequent historians into error, and established
fiction for true history.

Jeremiah speaks of the kings of Tyre, but does
not mention their names. At the time of Xerxes'
invasion of Greece, Tetramnestris ruled that part
of Phenicia about Sidon, and commanded the
three hundred Phenician ships who joined his
fleet.

Tonnes, but not immediately, was king after
Tetramnestris ; his successor, Strato, governed
w 7 hen Alexander conquered Tyre ; but there must
have been many between him and Tormes, for
there was one hundred and thirty years between
Xerxes and Alexander.

The names of the kings of Tyre before
Samuel's time, do not appear. Abybaal is the first
king of Tyre mentioned by Josephus. He was
succeeded by Saron, whom David compelled to

F

66 THE GAEL.

pay him tribute. Hiram, his son and successor,
entered into alliance with David, and sent him
cedars, carpenters, and masons, to complete his
buildings in Jerusalem, after he had beaten the
Jebusites. He also assisted Solomon in the con-
struction of the temple. He seems to have been
a magnificent prince, for he despised the twenty-
towns offered him by Solomon, to whom he gave
his daughter in marriage, and she is supposed to
have induced that prince to worship Astaroth, the
idol of the Phenicians.

Baleastratus, Balecartus, or Bazoris, succeeded
Hiram, and reigned seven years. Abdascartus
or Abdastratus, the eldest son of the last named
prince, reigned nine years, but was murdered by
the four sons of his nurse ; the eldest secured the
government to himself for twelve years, but was
eventually ousted by Astartus, the brother of Ab-
dascartus, who reigned twelve years.

Astarimus, or Atharimus, brother to the last
king, succeeded and reigned nine years. He was
slain by his brother Philles, who reigned eight
months.

Ithobal, or Ethbaal, (3c corn, b<x<xl lord) son
of Astarimus, chief priest of the goddess Astaroth,

TYRE. 67

a dignity next to the king, revenged the death of
his father, slew his uncle, and reigned twelve
years. His daughter was Jezebel, who was the
wife of Ahab, king of Israel.

Badezor, or Bazer, son of Ithobal, succeeded
his father, and reigned six years,

Mettimus, Malgon, or Belus, succeeded Ba-
dezor, and reigned nine years. He had two sons,
Pygmalion and Barca, and two daughters, Eliza
and Anna.

Pygmalion reigned forty years. In the seventh
year of his reign, Eliza (Dido) is said to have
sailed to Africa, and built Carthage, one hundred
and forty-three years after the building of the
temple of Solomon, which, by some accounts, was
two hundred and eighteen years after Troy was
taken, and one hundred and forty-three before
Rome was built, for, to use a quaint term of an
old writer, " Virgil's stone was out of square." This
event took place about the commencement of the
first Olympiad, A. A. c.

Pygmalion, coveting the riches of Sicheus,
who had married his sister Eliza, slew him while
hunting, or as Justin and Virgil has it, at

68 THE GAEL.

the altar. Whereupon Eliza, with her brother
Barca, fled with her treasure into Africa, and
built Carthage. From Barca sprung the noble
family of the Barcse, of which the great Hanni-
bal, and many other illustrious warriors, were
branches.

Eluleus succeeded Pygmalion and reigned thir-
ty-six years. It was he who defeated and de-
stroyed the fleet of Salmanassar.

Ithobal succeeded Eluleus, it was to him was
addressed the passage in the 28th chapter of
Ezekiel, " Because thine head is lifted up, and
thou hast said I am powerful as God, I sit in the
seat of God, and command in the midst of the
seas, &c."

Baal succeeded Ithobal and reigned ten years ;
after his death, Tyre was governed, somewhat as a
republic, by judges, or chief magistrates. Emba-
lus, Eknibaal, Abarus, or Abdarus, the priest,
Mitgon, and Gerastus, who held the govern-
ment among them seven years. After whom Ba-
lator was king for one year, to whom succeed-
ed Merbal, who was sent from Babylon, and
reigned four years, and was succeeded by Irom,
another Babylonian prince, who reigned twenty

TYRE. 69

years ; in his seventeenth year Cyrus began to
reign in Persia.

Ptolemais, now called Acre, Dora, and Caesa-
rea Palestina, are sometimes considered to have
been Phenician cities. Herod rebuilt the lat-
ter, and formed a harbour, which is said to have
exceeded all others in that part of the world. Jo-
sephus says, he cast immense stones into the sea
where it was seventy fathoms deep, some fifty feet
long, eighteen broad, and nine thick ; and thus he
stretched out a pier into the sea, two hundred
feet long, and after that a kind of break water,
by which he made a most commodious harbour,
where formerly was but an open bay. Within
the walls he erected palaces of polished marble,
with a theatre and amphitheatre, and a tower
from which he could look out a long distance to
sea,, which he called after Drusus, the Emperor's
son-in-law.

r ^

THE PHENICIANS.

CHAPTER II.*

The Siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great.

THE glorious defence made by the citizens of
Tyre, against Alexander the Great, is a sub-
ject worthy to be celebrated by an Iliad. The
citizens defied the impetuous conqueror, and held
his army at bay for seven months. Long was
the question doubtful, and often did the haughty
chief regret that he had undertaken a task so
full of difficulty. Frequently did he despair of
success, and gladly would have abandoned the
siege, could he have done so, without compro-
mising his character for invincibility.

The acquirements of the Phenicians, and their
progress in the arts and sciences, was much more
considerable than generally is conceived. They

*f

* 72 THE GAEL.

knew how to wield and concentrate the tremen-
dous power of machinery in a manner which
moderns give them little credit for.

Tyre seems to have been the focus of scientific
knowledge ; in her were collected the most emi-
nent for skill and intelligence ; all fell under
the ruthless and murdering hand of that scourge
of the human race, whose ambition for glory
induced him to destroy the most illustrious
city in the world, and by one act to annihilate a
people who had done more for the civilization of
the human race than all the world beside. The
baneful and withering effects of the destruction
of Tyre were felt at the extreme points of the
known world, and plunged them again into bar-
barism. The decapitation of this head of civi-
lization, rendered the body of the world almost
an inanimate and inchoate mass, without vigour,
force, or energy.

The following account of the event, extracted
from Diodorus Siculus, which, however, must be
considered a very imperfect sketch of its realities,
exhibits a picture of a people, worthy of a better
fate ; whose gallant and vigorous exertions in
defence of their city, and liberties, only provoked
the savage cruelty of the conqueror, instead of

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 73 *

exciting his admiration and respect. He caused
2000 of those brave defenders to be hanged
for daring to dispute his will, when they were in-
capable of farther resistance.

" Alexander the Great, after the battle of
Issus, commanded his army to take rest and re-
creation for some days. On his progress to in-
vade Egypt and bring it to subjection, he came
to Phenicia. The inhabitants of most of the
cities, by a prompt submission, were received into
favour. The Tyrians alone, pertinaciously re-
fused to permit him to enter their city ; and
when he desired to offer sacrifice to the Tyrian
Hercules, they resolutely refused him admis-
sion. Very much irritated and indignant at
their presuming to dispute his will, Alexander
threatened to take the city by force. The Ty-
rians, confident in the strength of their defences,
and anxious to serve Darius, with whom they
were in strict amity, expecting to be re-
warded for their fidelity, and the service they
would render him by delaying the progress of
the king of Macedonia, thus affording him
time to repair the effect of his late disasters, pre-
pared for a siege, nothing doubting the fortifica-
tions of the island ; and besides their own re-

*f 2

< THE

sources, relied on their friends and kinsmen, the
Carthaginians, for assistance, in case of need.

" Alexander having reconnoitred the city, per-
ceived that it would be most difficult to storm
it by sea, on account of the active exertions of
the citizens, who possessed and employed great
resources for the defence, and he could do nothing
without a fleet. From the land he could pro-
duce no effect, because the island, on which the
city stood, was four stadii (about half a mile)
from the continent. He, however, thought it
better to undergo any labour and expense rather
than allow the Macedonian power to be held in
contempt by a single city, however magnificent.
He, therefore, immediately set about pulling
down the ruins of antient Tyre, as it was then
called, and with the stones and other materials
to make a pier of the breadth of 200 feet from
the continent to the island; having pressed
the inhabitants of all the neighbouring cities into
his service, by the multitude of workmen, in
seven months he accomplished his object.

" XVI. At first, the Tyrians ridiculed him,
going to the pier in boats, jeeringly asking if he
thought himself superior to Neptune ; but af-
terwards, contrary to their expectation, the pier

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 75 *

progressing rapidly, they began to apprehend the
worst, and as a measure of precaution they
transported their wives, children, and old men,
to Carthage, keeping the young men to defend
the walls and to fight at sea, for they had eighty
ships of war. The operations of so many work-
men on the pier, rendered their ships almost use-
less, and they were driven to defend the walls on
all sides. Although they had a great number
of catapults and other machines of defence, they
made many more, Tyre abounding in workmen
and all kind of artificers. The instruments of
destruction were improved and made efficient by
new contrivances, and the walls of the city in
every part were covered with machines of defence,
particularly on that side next the pier, which at
length was brought by the enemy within reach
of the missiles of the Tyrian machines. While
the contest was doubtful, a prodigy was given by
the gods, for the waves brought from the depths
of the sea, a monstrous animal of incredible size,
to the pier. It, indeed, brought no injury to the
work, but for some time rested part of his body
upon it, and eventually returned to the deep.
This event caused great interest, on account of
its novelty. Both parties augured that Neptune
was propitious. The superstitious people chained

*7 THE GAEL.

the statue of Apollo, with golden chains to its
pediment, lest he should leave the city.

** XLII. The citizens being at length alarmed
by the near approach of the pier, armed boats
with slingers and engines, and attacked the
workmen, who, being crowded on so narrow a
space, were so exposed, that immense numbers of
them were slain. Alexander, however, to coun-
teract this, manned boats with solders to attack,
and if possible, to cut off the retreat of the Ty-
rians* boats from the city, and made with the
greatest eagerness for the port of Tyre. The
barbarians, fearing lest he should gain the port
and take the city in the absence of its defenders,
returned in haste, and both rowed as hard as they
could to get in first ; when the Macedonians
were just at the port, the Phenicians were nearly
being destroyed, but they forced their way through,
and got in safely, except a few of their last boats
which were lost. Although Alexander was much
dispirited at this determined defence, he perse-
vered, and having armed boats to protect the
workmen, they were more safe in future. When
the works had approached near the city, so that
it even appeared probable it could be taken, a vio-
lent gale of wind prostrated a great part of the

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 77*

work. This sudden destruction perplexed Alex-
ander so much, that he regretted he had under-
taken the siege ; but, incited by a desire of glory,
he cut down immense trees in the mountains of
Libanus, which he carried down to the city, and
being thrown in with their branches, and covered
with heaped earth, successfully resisted the force
of the waves, and restored the parts which had
been knocked down ; and having again approached
within the reach of the weapons, he built his ca-
tapults and machines on the pier, and with them
threw down the walls, and drove away, by his
missiles, the defenders from their posts, the archers
and slingers, made great havock among the
citizens.

" XLIII. The Tyrians, accustomed to the
sea, and having abundance of workmen and ma-
terials, contrived, with great industry, remedies
against the weapons of the catapults. They
made wheels, with many spokes, which they
turned round by machinery, and thus broke, and,
indeed, rendered useless, most of the weapons of
their adversaries, and repelled every blow, how-
ever violent ; the stones being thrown aside by
the wheels, were received on soft materials, and
were thus rendered innoxious. The king not
being satisfied with his ' approaches by the pier,

* 78 THE GAEL.

having accurately reconnoitred the walls, deter-
mined to beseige it by sea as well as land, by sur-
rounding the island with ships. The Tyrians
did not venture to meet the king's fleet, which
destroyed three ships stationed at the port's
mouth, and then returned to the camp. The
Tyrians, to render their walls doubly firm, built
another wall, ten cubits thick, at the distance of
five cubits, and filled up the space between with
stones and earth. Alexander having joined his
boats together, placed upon them various kinds
of machines, and destroyed above a hundred feet
of the walls, over the rubbish of which he
thought to enter the city. But the Tyrians, with
a firm and steady bravery, repulsed their enemy,
and repaired, by night, the wall which had been
thrown down. When, however, the pier was
joined to the walls, and the island rendered a
peninsula, they began to contrive many other
means of defence ; for although they had a pros-
pect of the worst of evils, and considered the
horrors attending a storm, their minds were
confirmed against danger, and they despised
death. For when the Macedonians reared up
lofty towers, equal, in height, to the battlements,
and from these threw bridges, as it were, over,
and boldly approached the walls, the Tyrians had
great advantage in defence, from the ingenuity
of their works.

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 79 *

" They made brazen grapples, of the requisite
dimensions, with which they struck the men
standing on the towers, and, having fixed them
in their shields, dragged them upwards, by means
of ropes, who, of necessity, must then submit
either to lose their arms, and thus expose their
bodies to be wounded by some of the numerous
weapons directed against them, or, retaining their
arms, for fear of disgrace, to fall from the lofty
towers, and thus perish. Others threw strong
nets round those fighting upon the bridges, and,
entangling them, drew them down from thence
to the ground. But they devised another extra-
ordinary artifice against the valour of the Ma-
cedonians, by which they involved the bravest of
the enemy in a disastrous and irremediable cala-
mity. For having prepared vessels of brass and
iron, and filled them with sand, which they heated
very hot with fire, and, by means of machines,
flung them against their enemies, and thus in-
flicted upon the fallen the greatest of all evils ;
for the sand penetrating through the thorax, and
the inside vest, and fretting the skin, by reason
of its excessive heat, made a wound which could
not be cured. Whereupon those afflicted sent
forth all manner of lamentation and supplication,
but had no one to assist them ; so, driven to fury,
and, by the acuteness of their suffering, falling

* 80 THE GAEL.

under their miserable and unutterable misfortune,
they breathed their last. Meanwhile the Pheni-
cians ceased not to hurl fire, darts, and stones,
against the enemy ; and thus the valour of the
besiegers was often compelled to yield to the
force of the weapons of their opponents, who,
cutting with hooks the ropes which supported
the battering rams, very much diminished their
force. They then hurled, from fire engines,
great lumps of iron, against the thickest file of
the enemy, and, by their very dense number, few
fell without effect ; and, with iron grapples in
their hands, they dragged down the besiegers by
their coats of mail ; and, because of the number
of the defenders, they avoided the weapons of their
adversaries, and slew many of them. But im-
pressed with the conviction that the difficulty
and danger could not long be sustained, the
Macedonians remitted nothing of their determi-
nation, but, passing over the bodies of their com-
rades, did not as much as consider their calamity.
Alexander having directed the catapults to hurl
large and rugged stones against the walls, at
length shook them, and then plying them with
every kind of missile weapon, inflicted grievous
slaughter on those who defended the walls. But
the Tyrians, no wise dismayed, contrived an an-
tidote against even this assault, by placing mar-

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 81 *

ble wheels before the walls, which, being revolved
by the power of machinery, broke the weapons
thrown from the catapults, or, turning them into
an oblique direction, made their shock ineffec-
tual. They also took hides, and skins of beasts,
which they filled and sewed up with sand and
rubbish, and on this received the whole force of
the engine ; being of a yielding nature, it easily
broke the violence of the stones that were
thrown. Thus did the Tyrians defend their
city in every possible manner, and, being very
much assisted by her allies, met the enemy
with boldness, and, leaving the walls and station
within the towers, rushed upon their enemy's
bridges, and exposed themselves, most valiantly,
to the exertions of their foes ; the combatants
enfolding one another, there was a great con-
test for the love of glory and country some with
hatchets severed the bodies of those opposing
their progress. A certain Macedonian leader,
named Admetus, eminent for his valour and
strength of body, when he resolutely received
the attack of the Tyrians, being struck with an
axe in the centre of the head, forthwith heroically
relinquished life. Alexander, seeing the despe-
rate fury of the Tyrians bearing hard against the
Macedonians, and night now advancing, sounded
a retreat. At first he determined to relinquish

* 82 THE GAEL.

the siege, and to make a campaign into Egypt,
but, changing his mind again, considering it
would be an indelible disgrace to him, and give
the glory of having ' successfully defended their
city to the Tyrians, he followed the counsel of
his friend Amyntas Andromus, and again deter-
mined to press the siege.

" Having exhorted the Macedonians not to
abate their valour, and prepared vessels with every
kind of warlike implement, he attacked the city
both by land and sea ; and supposing that the part
of the wall near the sea would be weakest, he sent
out a galley, with three banks of oars, laden with
suitable machines. Then he ventured to under-
take an act, which even those who beheld it could
scarcely credit, for joining a bridge from the
wood of the tower to the walls of the city, by
means of it he ascended the wall alone, not
fearing the envy of fortune, or prevented by
the vigour of the Tyrians ; and having the forces
which had been victorious against the Persians
witnesses to his heroic conduct, he ordered the
other Macedonians to follow him. Himself,
their leader, slew those who opposed him, strik-
ing some with the spear and others with the
sword, even hurling down some with the edge
of his shield : he damped the ardour of the

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 83 *

enemy. Whilst these exploits were per-
forming, the battering ram, in another part,
had effected a vast breach in the wall, through
which the forces of the Macedonians rushed in.
Alexander, with his own hand, scaled the walls
by the bridges, and took the city.

" Nor was the valour of the Tyrians even
then depressed or destroyed ; they exhorted one
another to defend the narrow passes, and keep
up the fight, till every man should be cut off
the number that remained was about seven thou-
sand.

" The king made slaves of the children and
women, and hanged no less than two thousand of
those in the flower of youth. A great multi-
tude of captives were found, so that although
many had been carried away to Carthage, the
remnant of them exceeded thirteen thousand.
Thus did the Tyrians, more daring and magnani-
mous than prudent, fall, after a siege of seven
months.

" Then the king made golden chains and pre-
sents for Apollo, and ordered the God to be
called Apollo Phil- Alexander ; and when he
had sacrificed, in a sumptuous manner, to Her-

* 84) THE GAEL.

cules, and rewarded those men who had distin-
guished themselves at the siege, and buried the
dead with great solemnity, he appointed one,
whose name was Ballonymus, to the government
of the city of the Tyrians, about whom it would
not be unfitting to speak a little, on account of
the extraordinary circumstances attending his
destiny.

" This Ballonymus was taken, and made king,
from a garden where he was drawing water for
hire, and was miserably dressed ; he was, how-'
ever, of the royal race, an honest man, and of
good character. Alexander having given the
choice of a king for the Tyrians to Hsephestion,
he selected this man, and had him taken out,
royally robed, and proclaimed king, to the great
joy of the people."

The name of Ballonymus is worthy of obser-
vation, on account of its import in the Gaelic
b<xl, a noble ; <xn, without ; <xnno<xn, a name ; or
the obscure or nameless noble man.

After the capture of Tyre, by Alexander, the
power of the Phenicians of Syria ceased altoge-
ther their trade was annihilated with their inde-
pendence j for security of property, which is

THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 85 *

indispensable to successful commerce, was made
to rest on the will of a military despot and whole-
sale plunderer, whose glory consisted in being
the scourge and curse of the human race. The
mind sickens with disgust at the contemplation
of the splendid plunderings and murderings of
such men as Alexander, who destroyed the finest
city, and the most magnificent people, because
they dared to defend themselves against his ruth-
less mcroachments. It may be said he was but
an instrument, and the horrors he inflicted,
judgments ; still he must, individually,
considered but an atrocious plunderer.
Carthage, the most powerful Phenician co-
lony, succeeded to the position of the first ma-
ritime people of the antient world. The rem-
nant of the Tyrians were received with kindness,
and became a part of the Carthaginian people ;
who also had the name of Feinoice, or Phe-
nicians, and, afterwards, underwent a fate very
similar to their mother city, Tyre, being utterly
destroyed by the Romans about 148 years before
the Christian era.

86

THE GAEL,

BRONZE FIGURE OF A PHENICIAN SOLDIER,

Found in a bog in Ireland about two years since. It is ex-
actly similar to the Etruscan bronzes found in Italy.

THE PHENICIANS.

CHAPTER III.

Aylett Sammes first advanced the opinion that the Phenicians
colonized Britain His Britannica Antigua Ulustrata
Increase of mankind after the Deluge, overrated Invention
of Shipping Learning and refinement the fruits of Com-
merce The Phenicians and Egyptians, the most po-
lished people of antiquityProofs of the Phenician coloni-
zation of Britain and Ireland The antient mine workings
Mr. Griffiths Phenician language Cerne, what Erin,
what Cabiri Gallilee Gael Phenician or Tyrian Her-
cules Melicartus, what in Hebrew, and Irish Ogamus and
Ogam, what ? Toland's account of Ogamus Lucian's
account of Ogmius Inscription at Colchester to the Tyrian
Hercules.

IT is not, perhaps, claiming too much for the
evidence produced in the last chapter, to say that
it is there satisfactorily demonstrated that the
Phenicians were sufficiently advanced in the prac-
tical exercise and science of navigation, to have
sent fleets and colonies to conquer and settle the

72 THE GAEL.

British islands, long before the Greeks knew any
thing of nautical affairs on a respectable scale.

That the Phenicians did carry on a regular
commercial intercourse with the British islands,
has been admitted by most writers as unquestion-
tionable ; but the opinion that the merchant
princes of Tyre and Sidon were the first settlers,
or colonizers of Britain, was first advanced, and
zealousy advocated by Aylett Sammes, in his
"Britannia Antigua Illustrata" published in
1676, a work little known, but valuable, as a di-
gest of what is said by antient authors relative to
the British islands. The conclusions he drew
from his premises are often, perhaps generally,
erroneous, or questionable, and are at best but
guesses ; but, considering the disadvantages under
which he laboured from being unacquainted with
the language spoken by the Britons and Celts,
were shrewd and ingenious ; he was a very learn-
ed man, and from his knowledge of Hebrew was
able to detect in the Celtic deities, those 'of the
Phenicians, which, no doubt, led him to pur-
sue a subject exciting but little interest in the
trifling and profligate period in which he lived.
Like Lhuyd, his contemporary, he could not pre-
vail on a bookseller to publish the work. Had he
been acquainted with the Gaelic tongue, the work

THE PHENICIANS. 73

would have been much more perfect and satisfac-
tory ; but still it is a compendium of useful infor-
mation, mixed indeed with much trash, for he
collected every thing-, even the fables of Geoffrey
of Monmouth, leaving his readers to form their
own judgment.

Sammes thought the Phenicians found Britain
uninhabited ; that they settled and peopled it
that the inhabitants at the time of the Romans
were their descendants, and that the world was
not so early stocked, by a miraculous increase after
the deluge, as was generally supposed.

" Much has been said," he observes, " of the
wonderful increase of mankind immediately after
the deluge, yet in the time of Abraham, two hun-
dred and ninety-two years after that event, the
land of Canaan was not fully peopled. * Is not
the whole land before us ?' said Lot ; and when
Jacob went to Egypt, the land of Goshen was
unoccupied. Nor was the increase so great for
the first five hundred years after the flood as suf-
ficiently to people Armenia, and the countries
lying in its immediate neighbourhood.

" People do not voluntarily emigrate, nor until
they find themselves inconvenienced by numbers,

74 THE GAEL.

and consequent want of food, &c. the finest and
richest soils are naturally chosen for cultivation,
and occupied before those which are less desirable,
afterwards the less promising ; and when popula-
tion increases so much that all is occupied, in the
next generation, the gradual and natural swarm,
as among bees, must of necessity seek new settle-
ments. So it was in the beginning, and will be so,
ssecula sseculorum. Mankind crept on by de-
grees, and thus insensibly became inured and fa-
miliar to different climates."

" The Greeks," says Mr. Sammes, " attributed
the invention of all arts and sciences to their own
nation, and thus brought their origin down to
their own pitiful epocha"

" The invention of ships has been attributed to
Erythrus, who is supposed by Scaliger, and others,
to be Edom, and to have lived about 400 years
after the flood. But whoever first invented the
noble vehicle, the Phenicians certainly improved
and first brought the large ships into use for mer-
chandize, and are entitled to the credit and ho-
nour of posterity."

" Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyrus." Tibullus.

THE PHENICIANS. 75

The invention of ships could not have been a
desideratum, while they had the model and ex-
ample of the ark ; the accurate detail of its
construction, given by Moses, exhibit skill and
judgment in ship building of no ordinary charac-
ter, supposing it to have been his own statement
of the naval architecture in his day.

Riches and the refinements of life flow natu-
rally from successful commerce, so learning and
scientific knowledge are called into existence
when a community possess abundance and wealth.
Manufactures naturally spring up from the pos-
session of the raw material, and new artificial
wants are created by every succeeding step in ci-
vilization, which the ingenuity of man never fails
to supply. Therefore, the Phenicians and Egyp-
tians were the most polished, learned, and best
informed people of antiquity. The haughty
Greeks acknowledge that they derived their let-
ters from Cadmus, a Phenician, though some
have endeavoured to show that they then only
received the particular form of their letters.
These writers are anxious to give all dignity and
honour to the Greeks, even at the expense of
truth. Phenicia was as high among the antients
as England is among the moderns, she had
fewer competitors, and no rivals who could

THE GAEL.

cause jealousy ; possessing the seas and the ocean
she became the mother and mistress of nations.
The Greeks were afterwards the humble copiests,
but never approached her stature in commercial
importance or naval enterprize ; after the fall
of Tyre, they appropriated the naval heroes
and the discoveries of their predecessors, to them-
selves, and, translating the names, given by the
Phenicians, into Greek, passed them for their
own.

From the Phenicians, therefore, the early an-
tiquities of Celtic, and most of maritime Europe,
is to be derived ; the coasts of the Mediterranean,
Spain, Celtic Gaul, and the British islands, having
received their names from that people.

The Cassiterrides of Strabo have generally
been considered the Scilly islands ; he describes
them as separated from Britain by a narrow chan-
nel j but that the metallic islands, from whence
the Phenicians derived their silver, lead, iron, and
tin, as stated by Ezekiel, Herodotus, and the
more antient authorities, were the British islands
at large, is proved by the very extensive an-
tient workings of mines in both England and
Ireland.

THE PHENICIANS. 77

It is not necessary to show these workings in
England, their existence is notorious ; that they
were equally extensive in Ireland appears in the
following extract from the Report made to the
Royal Dublin Society, on the Metallic Mines of
Leinster, in 1828, by Richard Griffith Esq. mining
engineer ; an evidence of no mean importance,
who gave his testimony without any idea of its
historical importance :

" If we may judge from the number of ancient
mine excavations, which are still visible in almost
every part of Ireland, it would appear, that an
ardent spirit for mining adventure, must have
pervaded this country at some very remote pe-
riod. In many cases no tradition, that can be de-
pended upon, now remains of the time, or peo-
ple, by whom the greater part of these works were
originally commenced : they are generally attri-
buted to the Danes; but every ancient castle,
rath, or tumulus, throughout the country, is re-
ferred, and in many instances certainly with very
little reason, to that people ; and it is difficult to
suppose that foreign invaders should have been
the first to explore our natural advantages, when
it is remembered how superior our more remote
ancestors were to all the neighbouring nations in
literature, in civilization, and in the arts. Of their

78 THE GAEL.

skill in metallurgy we have abundant proofs from
the numberless articles wrought in gold, silver,
copper, brass containing zinc, bronze containing
tin, and other mixed metals, that have been dis-
covered in every part of Ireland, many of which
display beautiful forms and exquisite workmanship.
It is worthy of remark, that many of our mining
excavations exhibit appearances similar to the sur-
face workings of the most antient mines in Corn-
wall, which are generally attributed to the Phoeni-
cians, who, from the remains of their arms, their
language, and other vestiges, which have been dis-
covered, indubitably visited that country, and who
are supposed to have shivered the rock into small
fragments, by first heating it to redness, by means
of large fires, and afterwards cooling rapidly, by
throwing on water.' 5 *

Mr. Griffith personally inspected almost
every mine in Ireland, and from the office he
held, was peculiarly qualified to supply valuable
and important evidence, both as a mineralogist
and metallurgist, because its accuracy cannot be
questioned. He tells us that the mines were ex-

* Griffith's Report to the Royal Dublin Society on .the
Metallic Mines of Leinster, 1828.

THE PHENICIANS. 79

tensively worked in almost every part of Ireland, '

and that an ardent spirit for mining adventure ^ > *

must have pervaded this country at a very remote

period. And further, that the antient Irish .. -y^w .
possessed "skill in metallurgy, we have abun-
dant proofs from the numberless articles in gold,
silver, copper, brass containing zinc, bronze con-
taining tin, and other mixed metals, that have '**
been discovered in every part of Ireland, many
of which display beautiful forms and exquisite ^
workmanship."

^-fr**** #**>+** tfb**** J -**f, -

We are notwithstanding told, by some writers,^* <*
that, those who assert that evidence exist of the
antient civilization of the Irish, are visionaries,
and enthusiastic dreamers ; but, as is justly ob-
served by Dr. O'Conor on another occasion,
those who do not admit such evidence to be con-

*4e~

elusive, prove themselves to be incapable of draw-
ing just conclusions from historic evidence, c ***

That the Phenicians spoke a dialect of the He-
brew, has been inferred from many passages in the
holy Scriptures. As the spies of Joshua do not
appear to have been known as foreigners, and
the conversations of the Jews with the Canaanites,
was apparently without an interpreter, as was the
conversation of our Saviour with the Canaanitish

80 THE GAEL.

or Syro-Phenician woman. It also appears from
Herodotus that they came from Chaldea, and no
doubt from their commercial intercourse were a
mixed people, and had many Hebrew words among
them, if their language was not derived from the
same source. The spies are not so much a case in
point, for Phenicia was to the north of Judea, and
was not conquered by Joshua, nor were the Phe-
nicians descendants of Canaan. They were only
Canaanites, as were the Jews, by residing in the
land of Canaan, but their origin was from Chal-
dea, as was that of the Jews.

" Hanno, the Carthaginian, passed the straits of
Gibraltar, "with a fleet of threescore sail, accom-
panied with 30,000 men," coasted along the Af-
rican shore, and built many cities, and settled the
country as far as Cerne, Chernaa, of the Pheni-
cians, beyond which they had no colony. Cerne
meaning the last habitation" Mr. Sammes ob-
serves on this : " From this Cerne, or If erne,
(n Cheth, being resolved in h 9 ) I think the antient
name of Ireland, Erne and lerne, as Strabo calls
it, proceeded rather than from Ibernce, as learned
Bochartus shows it, although both of the same
signification, and implies as much as the utter-
most habitation, as indeed Ireland is West-
ward."

ERIX. 81

What a convincing passage is this from an in-
dividual unacquainted with the Irish language,
and ignorant of the strong corroboration it af-
fords. He adds :

" These derivations I take to be truer than to
take it from Eirin of the natives, and that from
Heire, signifying the westward among them, be-
cause I have shown before that countries that have
their names from situations and customs, receive
them ab extra"

Now Erin is not the Irish name for Ireland,
but the genitive inflection of Eire, the proper
name of Ireland, Jap, is the west, the end, even/
thing last, beyond, the extremity. This word is
precisely pronounced the same as &tye, Ireland,
and is in common use at this day, as Ja/t con<xct, Cv^\e^M

West Connaught, J<x^ murrwJn, West Munster,
or Ormonde. From this it is evident the name
was given by the Phenicians, who conquered the
country, and spoke ab extra*

" The reason which concludes me in the belief
that Ireland took its name from the Phenicians
is, because, in the uttermost coast of Spain, west-
ward, is a promontory, called by Strabo, lerne,

G

82 THE GAEL.

and the river next to it, is called by Mela, lerne,
so that we see that when Spain was the uttermost
bounds of the knowledge of the Phenicians, Spain
was called lerne ; but when these islands were
discovered, then Ireland took the name as being
the uttermost. I cannot imagine how the names
should correspond, if they had not the same ori-
ginal ; besides, in the farthermost parts of Ireland
there is a river called by Ptolemy, lernus, agree-
ing in name with the river lerne in Spain, and all
this cannot be from Hiere, signifying West, in
Irish, because there is no other language in Eu-
rope besides the Irish, that have any such kind of
word to signify the west, for we find that those
countries that have any thing of west position, are
in the Teutonick called so, adding West, as West-
rich, Westphalia, to Germany, Westminster,
West Chester, &c. to London."

Taking this interesting passage, in conjunc-
tion with the Herne, or Cherne, on the coast of
Africa, as the most western, or uttermost point
of Phenician settlement there, it proves satisfacto-
rily that the Phenicians did give name to Ireland,
and tends to show the Irish were a Phenician
colony, there being an identity of meaning in both
languages, at least those who spoke what is now
called the Irish, Gaelic, or Gaeltic language,

CABIRI. S;*

" because there is no language in Europe, besides
the Irish, that have any such kind of words" to sig-
nify the west, or the local peculiarities of places,
which received names from the Phenicians.

Strabo* says, in citing Artemidorus, who lived
in the time of Ptolemy Lathyrus, " there was an
island near Britain, in which Ceres and Proserpine,
were worshipped with the same rites as in Samo-
thrace." Mr. Sammes argues therefrom that
this worship was introduced by the Phenicians,
because the Greeks had made no discoveries in
those seas at that period ; and the Phenicians,
who had taught the Samothracians the myste-
ries, were the only navigators then acquainted
with the British islands.

It is remarkable that the word Cabiri, which
signified the Samothracian gods or mysteries,
" is a Phenician word signifying power and great-
ness" In Irish, coiBaJ/i is a support, a shield, a
defence, cabala has the same meaning ; and
c<xb<kJ/ie means a babbler, or prater, probably from
the mystical unintelligible talking of the initiated
to the vulgar.

Lib. iv.

84* THE GAEL.

It has escaped all observation, as far as I have
discovered, that the country about Tyre and Si-
don, as far as Acre, antiently bore the name of
Galilee, or country of the Gael on the sea coast ;
the very name, Gael, the Phenician colonies in
Europe called themselves, and gave to their set-
tlement in Europe; g<xel, the Gael Ja country
ojl), sea coast. I feel unwilling to go beyond
the bounds of just criticism, or to strain a point
in favour of any hypothesis, but can I refuse
to claim the Phenicians as the ancestors of the
Gael, and Galilee for their original country ?
The facts which support the deduction appear to
me so strong that they force themselves on my
judgment, and are also supported by the pro-
bable and apparently natural and reasonable
course of events. The conclusion appears ir-
resistable, that the Gael were a Phenician co-
lony, who conquered and settled Celtic Europe at
such remote antiquity that when they were found
by the Romans in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland,
they had forgotten all but a tradition of their ori-
ginal country, their gods, their religion, and their
language.

The history of the Phenician Hercules is but
an allegory of the acts, conquests, and settle-
ments, of that great commercial people. Ac-

HERCULES. 85

cording to f^arro, the Greeks reckoned forty-
three individuals of the name of Hercules, and
attributed their actions to many distinguished men,
of their own nation, but, as is the case with all
fable, there exists no intelligible account of any
Hercules.

" The Phenician Hercules is said to have been
the son of Demarus, king of Tyre ; his name,
Melicartus, signifies, namely, king of the city, for
so the Phenicians called Tyre. The Amathusi-
ans who descended from the Phenicians, named
him simply Malica, the king"*

The name of Melicartus, king or lord of the
city, of which Malica was merely an abbreviation, ^ , c
and meant the same thing, is in Irish mat n<x c<xtaJ/i,
king of the city, and would sound Melnacaer.
The Hebrew ^hft malek, a king, and in 3 cathar,
a city, led Mr. Sammes to this conclusion :

" From his admirable skill in navigation, the
Greeks made him god of the sea, but feigned him
to be the grandson of Cadmus, calling him Pa-
Isemon, and having modelled him according to
their own fancies, gave him a numerous offspring.

* Philo Biblius ex Sanchoniatho.

8() THE GAEL,

But from Cadmus to the Theban Hercules, are
numbered ten generations, all which time is in-
ferior to this Hercules, who by many, is supposed
to be contemporary with Moses,"

That the temple of Hercules on the straits of
Gibraltar, was built by the Tyrians, we have the
united testimony of Strabo, Appian, Diodorus,
Arrian, and Philostratus. Strabo, in particular,
describes the motives and occasion of the building,
Hercules, he says, coasting about Spain and Af-
rica, built many cities; he vanquished the two
giants, Albion and Bergion, or in other words,
conquered and settled the two islands of Albion
and Ibernia, or larnia, and drove out the Belgian
inhabitants, called in Irish history Firbolgs, jrea/i-
fcolg Belgian men. 28otg is a leather bag, from
which a ship had the name, the coracles of the
Belgae being made of wicker covered with skins,
and were but an extended bag,

Marcellinus praises Timagines for his care in
searching and selecting evidence of the acts of
Hercules out of many records. Mr. Sammes
supposes that these must have been Syrian or
Phenician records, for Bochart proves that Tima-
gines was a Syrian, and therefore understood
the language ; Plutarch says he wrote a history of
Gaul. Having passed the Straits, Hercules

HERCULES. 87

settled the sea coast of Gaul, lying on ocean,
conquered Iberia, most parts of Spain, and,
no doubt, the British islands, for tin was brought
to the east long before a Greek entered the west-
ern seas.

Pliny says " Midacritus first brought tin into
Greece ; Bochart was inclined to think that this
name was the same as Melicartus, and Her-
cules first discovered the mines of this metal in
the British islands. There is on the western coast
of Devonshire a promontory called Herculis Pro-
montorium, to this day called Hertland Point."

" He was worshipped in Gaul and Britain un-
the name of Ogmius, and Lucian says he was
represented as " an old and decrepid man 9 the
top of his head bald, his hair white, with wrinkled
skin, sun-burnt after the manner of seamen, a
globe in one hand, and a compass in the other. *
to show his excellent skill in geometry and as-
tronomy."

" He was pictured also, drawn with chains pro-

* Lucian says he had a club in one hand and a bow in the
other. Where, in Lucian, Mr. Sammes found the description
here given he does not say.

88 THE GAEL.

ceeding from his mouth and fastened to the ears
of multitudes of men to show his learning and
eloquence."

is the Irish word for secret learning and
writing, and seems to refer to Ogmius. If taken
alone little depen dance should be placed on the
coincidence, but when added to such a crowd of
evidence arid such universal and extraordinary
coincidence, the whole amount almost to demon-
stration.

Toland in his history of the Druids, gives the
following statement respecting Hercules Ogmius :
" The Irish, a few Scandinavian and Danish
words accepted, being not qnly a dialect of the
antient Celtic or Gallic, but being also more like
the mother, than her other daughter, the British,
(Welsh) and the Irish MSS. being more numer-
ous and much antienter than the Welsh, shows
beyond all contradiction the necessity of this Ian-
guagefor retrieving the knowledge of the Celtic
religion and learning. Camden and others have
long since taken notice of the agreement be-
tween the present British and those old Gallic
words collected by learned men out of Greek and
Roman authors ; and the industrious Mr. Lhuyd,

HERCULES OGMIUS. 89

late keeper of the Museum at Oxford, perceived
this affinity between the same words and the Irish,
even before he studied that language, by the de-
monstration I gave him of the same in all the
said instances," " without the knowledge of the
Irish language and books, the Gallic antiquities,
not meaning the Francic, can never be set in any
tolerable light, with regard either towards names
or things. I shall here give one example of this,
since I just came from treating of the several
professors of learning common to the antient
Gauls, Britons, and Scots, viz. the Druids, Bards,
and Vaids. Lucian relates, that in Gaul, he
saw Hercules represented as a little old man,
whom in the language of the country they call
Ogmius, drawing after him an infinite multitude
of persons who seemed most willing to follow,
though dragged by extremely fine and almost im-
perceptible chains, which were fastened at the one
end to their ears, and held at the other, not in
either of Hercules's hands, which were both other-
wise employed, but tyed to the tip of his tongue,
in which there was a hole on purpose where all
those chains entered. Lucian wondering at this
manner of portraying Hercules, was informed by
a learned Druid who stood by, that Hercules did
not in Gaul, as in Greece, betoken strength of
body, but < force of eloquence, which is there beau-

90 THE GAEL.

tifully displayed by the Druid in his explication
of the picture that hung in the temple. Now
the critics of all nations have made a heavy pother
about this same word Ogmius, and laboriously
sought for the meaning of it every where, but just
where it was to be found." " Lucian does posi-
tively affirm, Ogmius was a Gallic word, " a word
of the country ;" " but the word Ogmius, as Lu-
cian was truly informed, is pure Celtic, and sig-
nifies, to use Tacitus' phrase about the Germans,
the secret of letters, and particularly the letters
themselves, and consequently the learning that
depends on them, from whom the force of elo-
quence proceeds : so that Hercules Ogmius is the
learned Hercules, or Hercules the protector of
learning, having, by many, been reputed himself
a philosopher. To prove this account of the
word, so natural and so apt, be pleased to under-
stand that from the very beginning of the colony
OGUM, sometimes written OGAM, and also OGMA,
has signified in Ireland the secret of letters, or the
Irish alphabet," " whence it happened that Ogum,
from signifying the secret of writing, came to sig-
k &^>^ nify secret writing, but still principally meaning
the original Irish characters."

The following is a translation from the origi-
nal Greek of the whole passage of Lucian.

HERCULES OGM1US. 91

" The Gauls call Hercules, in their country
language, OGMIUS, but they represent the picture
of the god in a very unusual manner. With
them he is a decrepid old man, bald before, his
beard extremely grey, as are the few other hairs
he has remaining. His skin is wrinkled, sun-burnt,
and of such a swarthy hue as that of old mariners,
so that you would take him to be Charon, or some
Japetus from the nethermost hell, or any other
rather than Hercules, But though he is such,
thus far, yet he hath withall the habit of Hercules :
being clad in the skin of a lion, holding a club in
his right hand, a quiver hanging from his shoul-
ders, and a bent bow in his left hand. Upon the
whole it is Hercules. I was of opinion that all
these things were perversely done, in dishonour
of the Grecian gods by the Gauls, to the picture
of Hercules, revenging themselves upon him by
such a representation, for having formerly over-
run their country, and driving a prey out of it ;
as he was seeking after the herd of Geryon, at
which time he made incursions into the western
nations. But I have not yet told, what is most
odd and strange in the picture : for this old Her-
cules draws after him a vast multitude of men, all
tied by their ears. The cords, by which he does
this, are small fine chains, artificially made of gold
and electrum, like to most beautiful bracelets.

THE GAEL.

And though the men are drawn by such slender
bonds, yet none of them think of breaking loose,
when they might easily do it ; neither do they
strive in the least to the contrary, or struggle
with their feet, leaning back with all their might
against their leader, but they gladly and cheerfully
follow, praising him that draws them, all seem-
ing in haste and desirous to get before each
other, holding up the claims, as if they should be
very sorry to be set free. Nor will I grudge
telling here, what, of all these matters, appeared
the most absurd to me : the painter finding no
place where to fix the extreme links of the chains,
the right hand being occupied with a club, and the
left with a bow, he made a hole in the tip of the
god's tongue, who turns smiling towards those he
he leads, and painted them as drawn from thence.
I looked upon these things a great while, some-
times admiring, sometimes doubting, and some-
times chafing with indignation ; but a certain
Gaul who stood by, not ignorant of our affairs,
as he showed by speaking Greek in perfection,
being one of the philosophers, I suppose, of that
nation, said ; * I will explain to you, O stranger, the
enigma of this picture, for it seems not a little to
disturb you. The Gauls do not suppose, as you
Greeks, that Mercury is speech or eloquence, but
we attribute it to Hercules because he is far su-

HERCULES OGMIUS. 93

perior in strength to Mercury. Do not wonder
that he is represented as an old man, for speech
alone loves to show its utmost vigour in old age if
your own poets speak true :

" All young men's hearts are with thick darkness filled,
But age experienced has much more to say,
More wise and learned than untaught youth."

" * Thus among yourselves honey drops from
Nestor's tongue ; and the Trojan orators emit a
certain voice called Lirioessa, that is a florid
speech, for if I remember right, flowers are called
Liria. Now that Hercules, or speech should
draw men after him tied by their ears to his
tongue, will be no cause of admiration to you,
when you consider the near affinity of the tongue
and the ears. Nor is his tongue contumeliously
bored ; for I remember, said he, to have learned
certain iambics out of your own comedians, one
of which says

" The tips of all prater's tongues are bored."

And finally, as for us, we are of opinion that
Hercules accomplished all his achievements by
speech; and, having been a wise man, he con-
quered mostly by persuasion ; we think his arrows
were keen razors, easily shot and penetrating the

1H THE GAEL.

souls of men ; whence you have, among you, the
expression of winged words.' Hitherto spoke the
Gaul.

This beautiful and eloquent description of
the power and strength of eloquence by a Gaul,
is no faint picture of the advancement and ac-
quirement of the Gauls in literature at the early
period of the second century of the Christian era,
for Lucian lived in the reigns of Adrian, Anto-
ninus, Commodus, and Severus, from A. D. 124,
to 214. This Gaul showed himself not only a
wise man, and a philosopher, but an accomplish-
ed scholar, well acquainted with the Greek au-
thors, and even their poets and dramatic writers.
It cannot be said that all this knowledge and po-
lish, might have been introduced by the Roman
conquests, for that would rather have introduc-
ed the Latin ; they became acquainted with the
Greek authors through the colony of Greeks
settled at Marseilles. If, therefore, the Gauls
were thus polished, the Britons were equally
so, for Csesar tells us they were more learned than
the Gauls, and the children of the latter were sent
to Britain to be educated. Csesar indeed called
them all barbarians ; but his own accounts of the
Celtse, ill accord with a state of ignorance or low
civilization, but rather establishes for them an

HERCtJLES. 95

advance in learning, and the arts and sciences of
civilized society, very little behind the Romans
themselves. The ships of the Veneti astonished
the Romans, who, until then had never seen any
so large or capable of conveying so large a cargo ;
even in the art of war they were only exceeded
by their Roman conquerors ; and had their polity
of government been differently constituted, had
they been governed by a single sovereign, instead
of so many petty princes, who, as Tacitus tells
us more than once, were conquered in detail, the
result of the contest might have been very dif-
ferent.

In the preface to Vallancey's Essay, 177^, p-v.
he mentions an altar to the Tyrian Hercules, dis-
covered by Dr. Todd, at Colchester in Essex,
with this inscription :

HPAKAEI

TYPIQ

AEIOAQPON

APXTEPEIOY.

Herculi Tyrio Divina Dona Archi Sacerdotis,
vel per summum sacerdotum offer enda. * The
oblation of the high priest to the Tyrian Hercules. 9

96 THE GAEL.

On the sides are engraved bulls' heads with gar-
lands and sacrificing instruments."

From the whole tendency of these statements
it is very clear that Hercules of the Phenicians
and of the Gauls was the same.

This Hercules, or Eracleis, was a very embar-
rassing sort of individual, somewhat of a deified
harlequin, whose club performed more wonderful
exploits than the wooden sword of the motley hero.
The Greeks borrowed him also from .the Pheni-
cians. I am inclined to hope the following defi-
nition of his true origin will, at all events have
the character of probability.

Hercules, or the larcul of the Phenicians, was
an officer, and not an individual. The Phe-
nicians (Tyrians) having conquered and colonized
Spain, the Islands of Britain, and Gaul, and
formed settlements in other places, found it ne-
cessary to appoint a general governor of these
countries to administer their laws, command
their armies, and protect their trade. This officer
they denominated J<x/t cut the defender, keeper,
guard, or protector of the west ; J<x/i, the west, cul,
keeper, protector, defender. The mystery of this
extraordinary personage is thus made clear and
intelligible.

HERCULES. 97 *

Many individuals filled this offic^fcduring the
long 1 continuance of Phenician domination in the
west, and their combined atchievements were the
foundation of the fable of the labours of Her-
cules. The Greeks supposing the larcool to be a
sole personage instead of a succession of indivi-
duals invested with great power and extensive
authority, and dazzled by the splendor and mul-
tiplicity of his exploits, made him one of their
own divinities.

It is also probable that the Tyrians placed their
western dominions under the protection of Baal,
or Apollo, and on the occasion gave him the title
of Baal lar Cul, or Baal the protector of the
west, and thus arose the worship of the Tyrian
Hercules. We find him worshipped in Britain as
Baal tuad cadreach, and other titles, which jus-
tify the presumption of surmise.

Geryon, the giant conquered by Hercules, was
also a personification of a people inhabiting the
barn^s of the Garonne, conquered by one of the
larcool of the Phenicians. The giant is repre-
sented by Virgil, as having robbed Hercules
of his cattle, upon which the hero slew him,
and made prize of his herds, and sent them to
Greece. The Garonne, as appears before, is

THE GAEL.

, and the people dwelling on

this river having made inroads into the Phenician
colony, the larcool plundered them and made
booty of their cattle in reprisal.

Though somewhat out of place, I will here
explain what was meant by the mysterious Riphean
mountains and Hyrcinian forests, the site of
either of which no one has even attempted to de-
termine.

The term Riphean being general, might, and
no doubt was, applied by the Phenicians to all grey
rocky barren ridges of mountains, in their lan-
guage, ;i)<xb<xc, grey, and eJje<xr>, hard, rocky,
barren, is pronounced Rephean, therefore, the
Riphean mountains meant all ridges of that de-
scription.

The Hyrcinian oak forests were all the forests

y

of the remote west, as the words J<x/i, west,
remote, import.

THE PHOENICIANS.

CHAPTER IV.

The Phenicians gave names to the countries and prominent
features in the Mediterranean and Spain, which are all ex-
plicable and expressive in Gaelic Many collated Tyre
Palcetyre Sidon Palmyra Italy Sardinia Corsica
Baleares Malta the promontories of Rusadir, in Africa
Scombraria Charidemum, and Damium, in Spain Calpe
Abeila Cadiz Barlengas Londobris, $*c. The antient
people of Spain Lacetani, Cosetani, fyc. The Rivers
of Spain Andara, Sfc. fyc. all Gaelic names Collation of
the speech in the Pcenulus of Plantus, from Vallancey
Phenician, Carthaginian, and Gaelic, the same language.

It has been well observed by Vallancey :
" Among the various expedients by which learned
men have tried to clear up the mists that hang
over the early accounts of all nations, none has
been so generally approved in theory, or so suc-
cessful, as that which makes identity or remark-
able similarity of language, manners, and religious
observances, its principal foundation. Both an-

H

98 THE GAEL.

tient and modern critics, proceeding upon this
plan, have made such deductions from very scanty
premises, as almost challenge the certainty of
strict demonstration."*

"It is unreasonable to suppose that the proper
names of men, places, rivers, &c. were originally
imposed in an arbitrary manner, without regard
to properties, circumstances, or particular occur-
rences, we should rather think, that in the ear-
liest period, and especially when the use of letters
were unknown, a name usually conveyed a brief
history of the thing signified, and thus recorded,
as it were by a method of artificial memory ; ma-
nifest and numerous instances of this are the pa-
triarchal names recorded by Moses."t

IT has already been stated that the Phenicians,
the first discoverers of the British Islands, gave
them their original names, and also conferred the
subordinate denominations, on the smaller is-
lands, promontories, estuaries, mountains, ri-
vers, &c. It will naturally be objected, and
justly, that the Phenicians before they had ap-

* Vallancetfs Introduction to the vindication of Irish His-
tory, p. 6.

f Ibid.

THE PHENICIANS. 99

proached the British coasts had discovered, and
of course named the countries situated on the
coasts of the Mediterranean, with the islands, pro-
montories, estuaries, rivers, mountains, and straits
thereof, and also the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and
Gaul. It may, therefore, be necessary before it
will be admitted, that the Gael and Phenicians
were the same people that there should be an
equally striking conformity and analogy, in the
Gaelic language, between the meaning of those
names, which are acknowledged generally, and
almost universally, to have been conferred by that
people, as of those of the British Islands and Gaul.
This is such obvious and just criticism, that I
would say if we do not find those names in the
Gaelic etymons, exactly descriptive and accord-
ant with their peculiar situation, character, and
circumstances, in so striking and palpable a
manner, as scarcely to admit of question or
doubt ; the names of Britain and Gaul being
Gaelic, only prove an identity between the inha-
bitants of those countries, as different branches
of the Gael, but do not go far enough to estab-
lish an identity, or even a connection between
them and the Phenicians. But, if the names of
the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean and
of Spain, or a great majority of them, are evident-
ly and palpably Gaelic, we may fairly, and without

100 THE GAEL.

encroachment, conclude that language to be the
genuine remains of the antient Phenician tongue,
and the Celtse, colonies of that enterprizing peo-
ple, whose merchants were princes, and the ho-
nourable of the earth.

It will not be expected that every name to be
found in the Mediterranean, or in Spain, should
be explained, or even be capable of being rendered
into Gaelic ; some, no doubt, had a different
origin, nor would it be advisable to fatigue the
reader by an unnecessary detail of etymologies, as
the most striking will sufficiently establish the de-
sired position ; the mind becomes bewildered in-
stead of being instructed by injudiciously mul-
tiplying proofs. The collation of all the names
might and would be useful in a gazetteer, or geo-
graphical work, but here would be out of place.

We will begin by first examining the names
of the cities of the coast of Phenicia itself and
first the chief city.

Tyre XJfi The land, or the country, by way
of eminence, the home of the Phenicians, their
pride and glory like Rome to the Romans. Tyre
was called THE CITY. 2Djt is sometimes spelled
, in antient MSS. Christian Mattheus, de-

THE PHENICIANS. 101

rives Tyre from the Hebrew "Vtf which signifies
a stone or rock, because it was built on a rock.

Paletyre, or Paletyrus The old city of Tyre
on the continent, of the materials of which
Alexander, for the most part, constructed the
pier to the island.
ff

Sidon, or Saida /"<xJb<x a seat, or site. Sidon,
though second to Tyre in glory and greatness, is
said to have been the elder city, and the first set-
tlement or seat of the Phenicians on the Medi-
terranean.

Palmyra p<il<x^, the palace rotye, of pleasure,
or diversion pronounced Palmire. Tadmor is
t<xj house and roo/i, great the great house,
or palace.

A few of the countries may now be mentioned.

t, corn t<xlam, country the land of
corn, or agriculture, pronounced Itala.

The Tiber. This is evidently the Gaelic and
Phenician tJbajt, a well, fountain, spring, stream.

Dalmatia b<xl, a share, a tribe, the country

a

102 THE GAEL.

possessed by a tribe rocJt, good, excellent.
The excellent, or good share, or allotment, pro-
nounced Dalmait.

Sardinia /-<x;i*>, the greater or larger
island ; the greater island with reference to Cor-
sica, pronounced Sardinis.

Corsica co/t/-oib, the coast, or the island near
the coast,

Baleares ba, cows, or cattle le<x/i, the sea
the cows of the sea, probably from their appear-
ance from ship-board. Diodorus Siculus derives
it erroneously from BaAAav, to throw, because
the inhabitants were great slingers, they bore
these names before the Greeks were navigators,
from the first discoverers, the Phenicians.

Malta, or Melita melt, banishment or the
place of banishment.

Promontorium Husadir, in Afric^ now called
the Capo de Tres Forcas, in the kingdom of Fez,
the first promontory, east of Ceuta. ^aab, red
^ <xbac, sand, or dust. If any inquire what nation
gave the name of Capo de Tres Forcas, the an-
swer would be, without hesitation, the Spaniards ;

NAMES IN SPAIN. 103

the other name is as palpably the gift of the Phe-
nicians,

Promontorium Scombraria, in Spain, now
called Cape Polos. Healthy Cape, or the Cape
of good air, fgam, breathing ', or the lungs
b;te<xt:, pure. Pure air, or breathing.

Promontorium Charidemum now called
Capo de Gates, in Grenada. The Cape of
sheep pasture cao/i, sheep bMmai), feeding, or
pasturage.

Promontorium Diamum Cape St. Martin,
in Valentia. b7amui) pasturage.

At the entrance into the Atlantic, we have the
Rock of Gibraltar, whose antient name was
Calpe, in Irish, catb a bald head.

Abeila, the old name of Ceuta, the headland
on the coast of Africa, opposite to Gibraltar, and
with the latter form the mouth or entrance of the
Mediterranean from the Atlantic. The literal
meaning is her mouth a, her beH, mouth.
No names could have been chosen more appro-
priate than Calb and Abeila, to express the ex-
act cirumstances of those two Capes.

104 THE GAEL.

Cadis or Gades the first great and glorious
city, built by the Phenicians after entering the
ocean c<xba^ honour, privilege, glory.

JBarlengas A cluster of dangerous islands, a
little to the north of the Tagus, only one of
which is habitable, the rest are all bare rocks,
looking like the black backs of enormous whales
above the water. In the antient maps of D'An-
ville, they are denominated Insultz Londobris.
Neither of these names have any meaning, as far
as I have been able to discover in the Portuguese,
or any other language than the Gaelic.

Berlengas, is b<x/</i death, or destruction, and
tonga, of ships.

Londobris, is long, a ship bo, of
wreck, or breaking up, shipwreck islands.

The old name of Cape Ortegal, was Trileucum

G!' *" 1^ *

Promontorium fromt/iJ, three leo%, marshes;
from three marshy inlets which exactly answer
the natural features of the place.

There are many places along the coast to which
is postfixed Briga, as Abobriga, Celtobriga, Ta-
labriga, Mirobriga, Coimbriga, Lacobriga, Ceto-

PEOPLE OF SPAIN. 105

briga, Hierobriga, and some with the prefix, as Bri-
gantium, all are derived from b/tJogac, hilly, which
is pronounced Briga.

Those names could not have been accidentally
so descriptive, they must have been given by a
people speaking the language which so clearly ex-
presses their peculiar circumstances. There is no
straining, cutting down, or changing letters or syl-
lables, the words declare their origin as palpably
as that Cape of Good Hope, or Desolation Bay,
were names given by the English.

The names of the antient people and rivers of
Spain, taken from M. D'Anville's map, and un-
doubtedly conferred by the Phenicians, when col-
lated with the Gaelic, exhibit equally satisfactory
evidence of the identity of that language with the
Phenician, without an exception.

Lacetani l<x)c, milk ; o, of ; tana, country.
The country of milk.

Cosetani co/% a fissure, or deep valley ; o, of;
t<xn<x, country. The country of deep vallies.

Varetani fe<x/i, grass ; o, of ; t<Xi?<i, country.
Grassy country.

Illercaones Jol, variety ; le<x/i, plains ; caonac,
mossy. Mossy plains.

106 THE GAEL.

Edetani eJb, cattle ; o, of ; tana, country.
The country of flocks and herds.

Contestant ceai), heads ; tea^, hot ; tana,
country. The high warm country ; tea^, is also
south ; it may be the high south country.

Bastitani baoj-te, rainy or wet ; tana, country
ta fQ bao^te, it rains violently, is the common
expression among the Irish at this day. Bastia,
the capital of that country, is from the same root
bao/% rain.

Orretani oty, gold ; o, of ; tana, country.
The country of gold.

Bastuli B<xo/% rain ; tul, flood. The country
of sudden floods, by means of rain ; or but, fisher-
men with nets, now Biscay.

Peni Phenicians.

Turdetani tM/i, above ; b), or a little, next ;
tana, country. The country next Cadiz.

Celtici The Gael.

Lusitani Wf 9 flowers , or herbs ; o, of ; tana.
The country of herbs, plants, or flowers.

Callaici caoHeac, narrow. The country next
the sea, now called Tralos Montes, and Galicia,
separated from the rest of Spain by mountains ;
the narrow slip.

Astures a/% a torrent, a mountain stream, or
waterfall t)/i, country, or land. The land of
torrents ; Asturias.

PEOPLE OF SPAIN. 107

Cantdbri ceai), heads ; tJ<x/i, high above \ b/0,
a hill. The high mountainous country.

Autrigones <xut/iuJ g, a wanderer, a man who
leads a nomadic life, shepherds.

Varduli p eoi/i, men ; but, fishers with nets
fishermen, now called Guipuscoa, part of Biscay,
or the sea coast.

Turduli tM/i, above, or ; but, fishermen with
nets ; the people who lived by fishery up the
Guadalquiver, with nets or cJ/t, land, or country.

These names are so accurately descriptive of
the peculiar features of the country, or the em-
ployment or habits of the inhabitants, that no can-
did mind can, it is conceived, doubt that the peo-
ple who gave those names, spoke the language in
which they are so explicable. A collation of the
names of the rivers of Spain, is noy given, al-
though it appears sufficiently established, that
the Gaelic, is the same language as that of
the Phenicians, who are on all hands acknowledg-
ed to have given names to the people of Spain,
as well as to most of the countries, islands, pro-
montories, and places in the Mediterranean sea,
and the coasts of Spain and Portugal.

108 THE GAEL.

RIVERS OF SPAIN.

Andaro aban, river ; ba/ta, oaks. River of
oaks.

Ason af, a torrent ; aban, river \ a mountain
torrent.

Abono aban, or Avon. A river.

Amies aba) I, dead, heavy.

Allones al, stony ; aban, river.

Bedon beb, fruit ; abar>, river.

Bidassoa beb, fruit ; a^, a torrent ; ua, country.

Balotta ba/i/<, death; lotac, wounding.

Canero ce<xp, head ; e^oj, of ice.

Coldelas col, neck or bay ; bJl, deluging ; &f,
torrent. The deluging torrent of the hay.

Deva bJ<xm<x/7, pure, clear, pellucid. Pro-
nounced Devan.

Del Sor perhaps ^o)/ie, east, branch of the
Guadalquiver.

Eo or Moranda eo, a salmon.

Ester io e<x^, a cataract or waterfall.

Fasorno f <x^, increasing ; <xb<xn, river.

Guadiama or Anas aba/? ; river a)^, of tor-
rents.

Guadalquiver or Bcetis beJt, double, twain,
having two branches which again unite.

Hea eac, a horse, or the moon ?

RIVERS IN SPAIN. 109

Junco J, low, shallow ; urjgac, copper, brass.
The shallow river of the copper mine.

Jubia u<xm, cove, or inlet. Pronounced eube.

Lequietio l<xJgJb, weak, small, puny, a brook.
A small river or stream in Biscay.

La Balotto b<x, cattle, j lot, washing.

Llanes lean. A swampy plain.

Lastres le<x^coJ/i, an arrow.

Linares IJn, water, the sea ; <x/i, bounded or
inclosed, a lake or river.

Landrova lea/9, a swampy plain ; b/iuJm, a
surface, a bark. Pronounced Landroov.

Lezaro U^, strife or conflict j <x/i, of the slain
or of slaughter.

Masma no<x/-, handsome ; no<x, clean, pure.

Mondaca m<xon, heroes ; be<xc<U/v wonderful ?

Mondoneda m<xor?, heroes^ bon<xba^, unfortu-
nate ?*

* This river, and the Episcopal city in Galicia, takes their
name from some event. I had proceeded thus far when .
a friend, a Spanish officer, told me of a regiment
of infantry, in Spain, now called Espinados Mondo-
nedas ; of which there is the tradition that they were on
guard about the person of the king, and there being an ex-
tended conspiracy to murder the sovereign, the place was at-
tacked by a numerous and overwhelming force, but was so
well defended as to repulse the assailants and destroy most of
them, but with so great a loss on the part of the guards, that out

110 THE GAEL.

Miera noJo^KXtr, misfortune. This name is, no
doubt, derived from some event which happened
at the river.

Mendeo men, a mine ; beoJb, end or fountain.
The stream from a mine.

Mero mJo/i<xt, misfortune.

Mintro, or Minius men, a mine.

Nanza nean, a wave ; f <x, stream.

Niembro neJmfyJg, insignificant, weak.

Navia, or Navius n<xom<xb, holy, sanctified.

Orio oty, gold ; Job, chain or collar.

Odiel oball, deaf.

Oro, Rio del oty, gold. Golden river.

Pilas p<x)l, a pavement, stony bottom; <x^,
torrent.

Pravia p/xb, rough, sudden, precipitate \ )a,

salmon.

6

of three hundred, only thirty survived. They were asked what
recompense should be given them, and demanded that their
regiment should ever be the royal guards of Spain, which
has been the case ever since. Mondonedas has no meaning
in Spanish, nor is there any period fixed for the event, it
must be, therefore, one of the events of remote antiquity,
when the Gaelic was the language of the country. As the
name Maondonadas is very appropriate to the legend, I was
reading over this collation to the officer above alluded to,
when he was struck with the extraordinary circumstance, and
told me that in Spain no one has an idea of the meaning of
the word, although all are acquainted with the story. .

RIVERS IN SPAIN. Ill

Puenta Riodela puJ/ice, a point.

Piedra pJt, a dyke, or small hollow ; /KX, mov-
ing, or a stream running through a small ravine.

Riba de Sella ^eUcu?, a rill, or small stream.

Recieda ;ie<xc, sudden, quick ; <x)b, cold.

Romalosa fioJm, soil, earth ; lu<ty-c<xb, loosing,
loose.

Ratonejo /i<xt, motion ; on, cause.

Saja px, a stream, ; Ja, an island or district.

Tambre, or Tamara t<xm, gentle ; b/i), slope.

Tina del Estu, Tina Major tin, to melt,
dissolve.

Tinto tJ/7, to melt ; to, silently.

Urumea u)/te, fresh green ; mMb<xr>, meadow,
or meag, earth or ground. The river of green
meadows.

Urola cm, earth ; jioHb, a hill or mountain.

Ulla aaJUeob, lamentation, wailing.

Unna uan, froth, foam.

V&dra reb, calm ; /i<x, moving.

Ybaychalval ), her ; ba, cattle ; c<xl<x, port ;
j:cil, plenty. The river or port for the export of
much cattle.

THE GAEL.

RIVERS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

Ebro eb<x/i, dirt, mud. Muddy river.
Turia bu/i, stream, river, water.
Xuvar or Tucro tu<\, hatchet, battle-axe j
c/io, red, bloody.

RIVERS IN PORTUGAL.

Tagus t<xo), mild, gentle.
Munda rouJn, a hill; *><*, fish. A mountain
stream with fish.

Durius bu/i, water, river, stream.

These names are so palpably Gaelic, that I feel
I shall perhaps annoy by using any further argu-
ment in support of the identity of that language
with the Phenician. I shall, therefore, in this
part of the subject, produce no more etymologies
further than to conclude with the celebrated
collation of the Carthaginean speeches in the
Poenulus of Plautus, published by General Val-
lancey.

The General has been accused of having bor-
rowed this extraordinary discovery, without ac-
knowledgment, from the MS. of O'Neachtan, a

VALLANCEY O'NEACHTAN. 113

celebrated Irish scholar. I regret to say with too
much truth, the MS. from which he took it, with
his own autograph written therein, was lately in
the possession of a friend of mine.

Vallancey, however, first gave it to the world ;
and conferred a greater benefit than O'Neachtan
himself, who allowed his discovery to remain un-
known.

There can be no doubt that the speeches in
the Poenulus are Gaelic. The story is simply
told, and the feelings and anxiety of Hanno,
well and eloquently expressed. The substance of
the story is given in the following translation of
the Argument.

A certain Carthaginian youth having been
stolen by pirates, was carried to Calydonia in
CEt^lia, and sold to an old citizen, who
adopted him as his son, and, dying, left him his
heir. The youth loved an amiable young wo-
man, his relative, she was the daughter of his
his uncle, but he knew it not, for pirates had also
taken his two little girls, with their nurse, from
his country-house ; and having brought them to
Calydonia, they were sold to Lycus, a procurer,
in Anactorium, a town in Acarnania. The youth

i

THE GAEL.

being unable to obtain his beloved from her
owner, called in aid the counsel of Milphio,
his servant, and laying a snare for Lycus, had
him condemned for theft. In the mean time
a discovery was made that the girls were noble
Carthaginians, and their father Hanno, who had
sought them in every country, came and acknow-
ledged them, and gave the elder of them in mar-
riage to the son of his brother.

DRAMATIS PERSONS.

Agorastocles . a Carthaginian youth.

Milphio a Servant.

Adelphasium&Anterastilis, Courtesans.

Lycus the Pimp, or Procurer.

Anthemonides a Soldier, or Knight.

Hanno a Carthaginian.

Giddeneme the Nurse, &c.

FROM THE EDITION OF MOCENIGUS.

Fifth Act, First Scene.

Nythalonim ualon uth si corathissima comsyth
Chi-m lach chunyth mumys tyal mycthibarii imischi

PLAUTUS. 115

Lipho canet hyth bynuthii ad a? din bynuthii.
Byrnarob syllo homalonim uby misyrthoho
Bythlym mothym noctohii uelechanti dasmachon
Yssidele brin thyfel yth chylys chon. them liphul
Uth. bynim ysdibur thynno cuth nu Agorastocles
Ythe maneth ihy chirsse lycoth sith naso
Bynni id chil luhili gubulin lasibit thym
Bodyalyt herayn nyn nuys lym monchot lusim
Exanolim uolanus succuratim mistim atticum esse
Concubitum a bello cutin beant lalacant chona

enus es
Huiec silic panesse athidmascon alem induberto

felono buthume.
Celttim comucro lueni, at enim auoso uber hent

hyach Aristoclem
Et te se aneche nasoctelia elicos alemus duberter

mi comps uespti
Aodeanec lictor bodes iussum limnimcolus.

FROM THE SAME IN LATIN.

Deos deasque veneror, qui hanc urbem colunt ut

quod de mea re
Hue veneri te venerim, measque ut gnatas et mei

fratris filium
Reperirem esiritis : id vostram fidem quee mihi

surreptsc sunt.
Et fratris filium. qui mihi ante hac hospes anti-

madas fuit

i 2

116 THE GAEL.

Eum fecisse aiunt : sibi quod fachmdum fuit ejus

filium
Hie predicant esse Agorastoclem. Deum hospi-

talem ac tesseram
Mecum fero. in hisce habitare monstratus regi-

onibus.
Hos percontabor, qui hue egreduintur foras.

Bochart* thinks these lines of Plautus are part-
ly Punic and partly Libyan : the six last he does
not attempt to transcribe or translate, but conjec-
tures that they are a repetition of the ten first, in
the Lybian language ; the ten first he says are
Punic, and he thus describes them in the He-
brew :

Na eth eljonim veeljonoth sechorath iismecun zoth
Chi malachai jitthemu : maslia middabarehen iski.
Lephurcanath eth beni eth jad udi ubenothui
Berua rob sellahem eljonim ubimesuratebem.
Beterem moth anoth othi helech Antidamarchon
Is sejada il ; Beram tippel eth chele sechinatim

leophel.

Eth ben amis dibbur tham nocot nave Agorastocles
Otheim anuthi hu chior .seeli choc : zoth nose
Binni ed chi lo haelle gebulim laseboth tham

* Phaleg, ch. 2.

PLAUTUS. 117

Bo di all thera inna ; Hinno, esal immancar lo
sem.

Which lines Bochart thus translates into Latin.

Rogo Deos et Deas qui hanc regionem tuentur
Ut consilia mea compleantur : Prosperum sit ex

ductu eorum negotium meum.
Ad liberationem filii mei manu prsedonis, et filia-

rum mearum.
Dii per spiritum multum qui estis in ipsis, et per

providentiam suam
Ante obitum diversari apud me solebat Antida-

marchus.
Vir mihi familiaris; sedis eorum coetibusjunctus

est, ; quorum habitatio est in caligine.
Filium ejus constans fama est ibi fixisse sedem

Agorastoclem (nomine)
Sigillum hospitii mei est tabula sculptaj cujus sculp-

tura est Deus meus : id fero.
Indicavit mihi testis eum habitare in his finibus.
Venit aliquis per portam hanc ; Ecce eum ; ro-

gabo nunquid noverit nomen (Agorastoclis.)

118 THE GAEL.

We will now collate this speech with the Irish. ()

PLAUTUS.

Nyth al o nim ua lonuthsicorathissi me com syth (5)
Chim lach chumyth mum ys tyal mycthi barii im
schi.

IRISH.

* N'iaith all o nimh uath lonnaithe ! socruidhse

me comsith.
Omnipotent much dreaded Deity of this country !

assuage my troubled mind,

IRISH verbum verbo.

* O all nimh* n'iaith, (1) lonnaith, (2) uath ! socruidhse me

com sith
O mighty Deity of this country, powerful, terrible ! quiet

me with rest.

* See O'Brien's, O'Reilly's, and Armstrong's Dictionaries for these
words :

(1) iath, land, territory, asiath o neachach, a part of the county of Wa-
tcrtord.

(2) uath, dread, terrible. Lh. O Br. O'Reilly.

(a) The Irish is given here, after Vallancey, in the Roman character,
in which letter h, after, has the same power as a point over, a conso-
nant, by eclipsing c* rendering it mute, or changing m into v.

(b) We have a remarkable Irish poem written in the thirteenth century,
beginning much in the same manner-^-

" Athair chaidh choimsidh neimhe"

PLAUTUS. 119

* Chimi lach chuinigh ! muini is toil, miocht bei-

ridh iar mo scith

(thou) the support of feeble captives l(n)- being now
exhausted with fatigue, of thy free will guide
to my children.

PLAUTUS.

Lipho can ethyth by mitliii ad sedan binuthii

Bj r nar ob syllo homal o iiim ! ubymis isyrthoho.

IRISH.

t Liomhtha can ati bi mitchead eadan beannaithe,
O let my prayers be perfectly acceptable in thy
sight.

IRISH verbum verbo.

* Chuinigh lach (1) chimithe; is toil, muini beiridh (2)
miocht,

A support of weak captives ; be thy will to instruct (me)

to obtain my children,
Iar mo scith (3)
After my fatigue.

f Can (4) ati liomtha (5) mitche bi beannaithe ad eadan, (6)
Let it come to pass, that my earnest prayers be blessed

before thee,

(1) time, cimidh, cimeadh, prisoners, cimim, to enslave. O Br. O.R.

(2) iochd, children, miocht, my*hildren. O Br. O. R.

(3) Marique terraque usque quaque quaeritat. Plant. Prolog, lin. 105.

(4) conadi,\et it So happen. M.S.S. conadhaire, therefore. O. R.

(5) itche, a petition, reqiiest; liomtha, pronounced limpha. O Br. O. R.
(0) a(V cadan, in thy face, cadan, the front of any thing. O. Br. O. R.

() Captives , his daughters.

120 THE GAEH.

* Bior riar ob siladh umhal ; o nimh! ibhirii a frotlia I
An inexhaustible fountain to the humble ; O

Deity ! let me drink of its streams !

PLAUTUS.

Byth lym mo thym noctothii nel ech an ti daisc

machon
Ys i de lebrim thyfe lyth chy ly& chon temlyph

ula

IRISH.

t Beith liom ! mo'thime noctaithe, neil ach tan ti
daisic mac coinne

Forsake me not! my earnest desire is now dis-
closed, which is only that of recovering my
daughters ;

IRISH verbum verbo.

* Bior nar ob siladh umhal ; O Nimh ! ibhim a frotha,

A fountain denied not to drop to the humble; O Deity

that I may drink of its streams.

f Beith liom ! mo (1) thime (2) noctaithe, niel ach an ti (3)
Be with me ! my fears being disclosed, I have no other in-
tention but
daisic, (4) macoinne. (5)

of recovering my daughters.

-. ,

(1) tim, time, fear, dread. O B . O. R. also pride, estimation, weak-
ness.

(2) nocdaigJie, and nocta, naked, open, disclosed. O Br. O. R.

(3) ti, design, intentior. Lh. do rabhadarar ti, they intended. Nehcm.
iv. 7. noch do bhi ar ti lamh do chur, who designed to lay hands. Est. vi. 2.

(4) aisioc, restitution : aisiocadh to restore. Lh. O Br. O. R.

(5) mac choinne daughters ; macoamh, a youth, a girl. O Br. O. R.

PLAUTUS.

* Is i de leabhraim tafach leith, chi lis con team-

pluibh ulla
This was my fervent prayer, lamenting their mis-

fortunes in thy sacred temples.

PLAUTUS.

Uth bynim ys diburt hynn ocuthnu Agorastocles
Ythe man eth ihychirsae lycoth sith nasa.

IRISH.

t Uch bin nim i is de beart inn a ccomhnuithe

Agorastocles !
O bounteous Deity ! it is reported here dwelleth

Agorastocles !

IRISH verbum verbo.

* tafach (1) a (2) leith, is i de leabhraim, (3) hi lis (4)
this particular request, was what I made, bewailing their

misfortunes,

con (5) ulla teampluibh.
in (thy) sacred temples.

t Uch bin nim ! is de beart inn, accomhnuithe Agorastocles
O sweet Deity I it is said in this place, dwells Agorastocles

(1) tafac craving, also exhortation. Lh. O Br. O. R.

(2) a leith, distinct, particular, ibid.

(3) ci, to lament ; a mhacain na ce, lament not young men. ibid.

(4) Us, evil, mischief, ibid.

(5) ulla, a place of devotion, ibid.

THE GAEL.

* Itche mana ith a chithirsi ; leicceath sith nosa !
Should my request appear just, here let my dis-
quietudes cease !

PLAUTUS.

Buini id chillu ili guby lim la si bithym
Bo dyalyther aynnyn mysly mono chetl us im.

IRISH.

t Buaine na iad cheile ile : gabh Horn an la so bi-

thim' !
Let them be no longer concealed ; O that I may

this day find my daughters !

IRISH verbum verbo.

*mana(l) itche a chithirsi (2) ith; nosa (3) leicceath

sith.
if the cause of my request should seem to you to be just ;

now grant (me) peace,
f na cheile iad (4) buaine (5) ile ; gabh Horn (6) bithm' an

la so !
do not conceal them for ever; O that I may find my

daughters this day !

( 1 ) mana, a cause or occasion. O Br. O. R.

(2) idh or ith, good, just. O Br. O. R.

(3) leicceadh or legeadh, to permit. O Br. O. R.

(4) buaine, perpetuity, continuance. O Br. O. R.

(5) ile, a diversity, a difference, partially. O Br. O R.

(6) lithe, females, belonging to the female sex. O Br. Hanno here
prays they may not be partially concealed, i. e. that he may discover bis
nephew, Agorastocles, as well as his daughters, and then breaks out with
the following ejaculation, respecting his daughters particularly.

PLAUTUS. 123

* Bo dileachtach nionath n'isle, mon cotlioil us im

they will be fatherless, and preys to the worst of

men, unless it be thy pleasure I should find them.

PLAUTUS.

EC anolim uolanus succur ratim misti atticum esse
Con cubitu mabel lo cutin bean tla la cant chona
enuses.

IRISH.
t Ece all o mm uath lonnaithe ! socair-ratai

mitche aiticimse
But mighty and terrible Deity, look down upon

me ! fulfil the prayers I now offer unto thee,

IRISH verbum verbo.

* dileachtach bo nionath n'isle ; mona codthoil
being orphans, they will be the prey of the very dregs

of men ; unless it be thy will
us (1) im

(to give) tydings about them.
f all o nim lonnaithe, uath Ece I (2) ratai socair. mitche (3)

aiticimse.
O great Deity, powerful, terrible, Behold (me) I prosper

with success my petition I ask.

(1) us, news, tydings. O Br. O. R.

(2) rathai, to make prosperous. Lh. O Br. O R, socair, prosperity,
reflective.

(3) aitichim, to pray or entreat, ibid.

THE GAEL.

* Con cuibet meabaii le cuta bean, tlait le caint
con inisis,

without effeminate deceit or rage, but with the
utmost humility, I have represented my unfor-
tunate situation.

PLAUTUS.

Huie csi lee pan esse, athi dm as con alem

in dubart felo no buth ume
Celt um co mu cro lueni ! ateni mauo suber r ben-

thyach Agorastoclem.

IRISH.

t Huch ! caisi leicc pian esse athi dam, as con

ailim in dubart felo
Ogh ? the neglect of this petition will be death to

me ! let so secret disappointment

IRISH verbum verbo.

* Con (1) cuibet (2) meabaii le cuta (3) bean ; le tlait c'aint

inisis con (4)
Without deceitful fraud or effeminate rage : with humble

speech I have told my meaning,
f Huch ! (5) leicc caisi as con ailim, pian esse (6) aith (7)

dhamhna bioth

Alas ! the neglect of the cause I have set before thee, would
be the pains of death to me, let me not

(1) con pro gan, old MSS. (tyvuibeth, fraud, cheat. (3) cutha,
rage, fury. (4) con, sense, meaning. O Br. (5) leicc, neglect. O Br.
(6) ess, death. Lh. O Br. (1) aith, quick, sudden. Lh. O.K.

PLAUTUS.

no buth ume

befall me.

* Celt uaim c'a mocro luani ! athini me an sublia

ar beanuath Agorastocles.
Hide not from me the children of my loins ! and

grant me the pleasure of recovering Agorastocl es.

PLAUTUS.

Ex te se anechc na soctelia eli cos alem as du-

bert ar mi comps,
Uesptis Aod eanec lie tor bo desiussum lim nirn

co lus.

IRISH verbum verlo.

uaim an feile dobart (1)

meet any secret mischief.

* Celt (2) c'a uaim (3) cro mo luani ; aithin me an sublia (4)

beanuath
Hide not from me the children of my loins ; and grant me

the pleasure of recovering
ar Agorastocles. (5)
Agorastocles.

(1) dobart, mischief. O Br. (2) cro, children. Dichu go lion cro.
i. e. go lion clann. Lh. (3) cha for m, old MSS ; frequently used by
the old Irish at this day ; as, cha deanan, I will not do it. (4) bea-
nughadh, to recover ; do bhean se ar tiomlan, he recovered the whole.
Lh. (5) His nephew.

THE GAEL.
IRISH.

* Ece te so a Neach na soichle uile cos ailim as

dubairt ;

Behold O Deity, these are the only joys I earn-
estly pray for ;

ar me compais,

take compassion on me,

tis bidis Aodh eineac lie Tor, ba desiughim le
mo nirnh co lus.

and grateful fires on stone towers, will I ordain
to blaze to heaven.

IRISH verbum verbo.

* Ece a Neach (6) ete so uile cos na soichle (7) ailim as
(8) dubairt ;

behold> O Deity, this is every consideration of joy, I earn-
estly pray for ;

ar me (1) compais,

take pity on me,

f is bidis (2) eineac (3) Aodh ar (4) lie tor ba desiughim co
lus.

and there shall be grateful fires on stone towers, which I
will prepare to burn

le mo nimh.

to my deity.

(1) neach, i. e. neamhach, a heavenly spirit. O Br. (2) ailim, to pray
or entreat. Lh. O Br. (3) dubairt, an earnest prayer. O Br.

(4) chompais, compassion, pity. O Br. O. R.

(5) eineach, bountiful, liberal. O Br. O. R.

(6) Aodh, fire. Lh. O Br. O. R.

(7) lie, leiccy a stone j Hoc, a great stone. O Br. O R.

127

FIFTH ACT SECOND SCENE. '
AGORASTOCLES. MILPIIIO. HANNO.

MILP. Adibo hosce, atque appellabo Punice j
Si respondebunt, Punice pergam loqui :
Si non : turn ad horum mores linguam vertero.
Quid ais tu ? ecquid adhuc commeministi Punice ?

AG. Nihil adepol. Nam qui scire potui, die mihi,
Qui illinc sexennis perierim Karthagine ?

HAN. Pro Di immortales! plurimi ad liunc

modum
Periere pueri liberi Karthagine.

MIL. Quid ais tu? AG. Quid vis? MIL. Vin'
appellem hunc Punice ? AG. An scis ? MIL. Nullus
me est hodie Poenus Punior.

AG. Adi atque appella quid velit, quid venerit,
Qui sit quojatis, unde sit : ne parseris.

MIL. Avo ! quojatis estis ? aut quo ex oppido ?

HAN. Hanno Muthumballe bi Chaedreanech.

IRISH.

Hanno Muthumbal bi Chathar dreannad.

I am Hanno Muthumbal* dwelling at Carthage.

* muty, the seataai), fame; b'aal, lord, or chief, or
commander. Hanno the renowned sea captain.

128 THE GAEL.

Chathar dreannad, signifies the good city ; we
have already shewn from good authority, that
it was also called Cathar agadh. See the word
Carthage.

Lambinus reads this passage thus : Hanno Mu-
thum Balle beccha edre anech.

Reinesius has it thus : Muthum talis ben chadre
anech.

Which he translates, Deum vel Dominum Averni,
Ditem, seu Plutonem Muth, id est Pluto Phoe-
nicibus, seu domicilium mortis.

That muth in the Punic and meuth in the Irish,
signifies death, destruction, decay, &c. we have
shown in the preceding collation of the Punica
Maltese words with the Irish ; but that Mu-
thumbal was Punice a proper name, is evident
from a Punic medal now in the choice cabinet
of the Earl of Charlemont, round the exergue of
which is the word MVTHVMBALLVS, and on the re-
verse, the city of Carthage, with some Phoenician
characters. This is also a strong proof of the
early introduction of the Roman letters among
the Carthaginians, and a sufficient reason, in
my opinion, that no other characters have been
found in use amongst the ancient Irish than the
old Roman or Etruscan, except the contrac-
tions which are to be found in the Chaldean,
Coptic, &c.

PLAUTUS. 129

AG. Quid ait ? MIL. Hannonem sese ait Kar-
thagine Carthaginiensem Muthumballis nTium.

HAN. Avo. MIL. Salutat. HAN. Donni.

MIL. Doni volt tibi dare hinc nescio quid, au-
din* pollicerier ?

Avo ! donni !

Alas! most unfortunate that I am.

AbJio, pronounced avo, and donaidhe, the corn-
par, of dona, unfortunate, are interjections
common among the Irish to this day.

AG. Saluta hunc rursus Punice verbis meis.
MIL. A.VO donni ! hie mihi tibi inquit verbis
suis.

HAN. Me bar bocca !

IRISH.

a ma babacht ! O my sweet youth, (mean-
ing his nephew.)

MIL. Istuc tibi sit potius quam mihi. AG. Quid

ait?
MIL. Miseram esse prsedicat buccam sibi

Fortasse medicos nos esse arbitrarier.
AG. Si ita est. Nega esse, nolo ego errare

hospitem.
MIL. Audi tu rufen nuco istam. AG. Sic volo,

Profecto verar cuncta huic expedirier.

K

130 THE GAEL.

Roga, nunquid opus sit? MIL. Tu qui zonam

non habes
Quid in hanc venistis urbem, aut quid quseritis ?

HAN. Muphursa ! AG. Quid ait ? HAN. Mi
vule chianna !

IRISH.

Mo thuirse ! Mo buile chionna !

O my grief! My sorrow is of long standing.

AG. Quid venit ?
MIL. Non audis ? mures Africanos praedicat

In pompam ludis dare se velle aedilibus.
HAN. Laech la chananim liminichot.

IRISH.

Luach le cheannaighim Horn miocht.

At any price I would purchase my children.
MIL. Ligulas canalis ait se advexisse et nuces :

Nunc orat, operam ut des sibi, ut vea veneant.
AG. Mercator credo est. HAN. Is am ar uinam.

IRISH.

Is am ar uinneam !
This is the time for resolution !

AG. Quid est ?
HAN. Palum erga dectha f *

IRISH.
Ba Horn earga deacta.

PLAUTUS. 131

I will submit to the dictates of heaven.

AG. Milphio, quid nunc ait.
MIL. Pal as vendundas sibi ait et mergas datas,
Ut hortum fodiat, atque ut frumentum metat.
Ad messim credo missus hie quidem tuam.
AG. Quid istuc ad me ? MIL. Certiorem te esse

volui,

Ne quid clam furtive accepisse censeas.
HAN. Ma phannium sucorahim.

IRISH.

me fuinim ; socaraidhim ;

that I may hereafter finish my fatigue ! and that
I may now be at rest !

MIL. hem ! cave sis feceris

Quod hie te orat. AG. Quid ait ? aut quid orat ?
expedi.
MIL. Sub cratim uti jubeas sese supponi, atque

eo

Lapides imponi multos, ut sese neces.
HAN. Gan ebel Balsameni ar a san.

IRISH.

Guna bil Bal-samen ar a son !
O that the good Bal-samhan may favor them !
Bal-samhan, i. e. Beal the Sun, as explained
before at the word Bal.

AG. Quid ait ?
MIL. Non Hercle nunc quidem quicquam scio.

THE GAEL.

HAN. Atut scias nunc, de hinc latine jam loquar.
&c. &c.

In the Third Scene of the Fifth Act of Plautus,
where the plot begins to open are two more lines
of the Punic language, and bearing a greater
affinity with the old Irish than any of the former.
In this scene the old Nurse recollects Hanno.

GlDDENEME, MlLPHIO, HANNO, ApORASTOCLES.

GID, Quis pultat? MIL. Qui te proximus est.

GID. Quid vis ? MIL. Eho,
Novistin' tu illunc tunicatum hominem, qui siet.

GID. Nam quern ego aspicio ? pro supreme

Jupiter, herus meus hie quidem est
Mearumalumnarum pater ; Hanno Carthaginensis.

MIL. Ecce autem mala, preestigiator hie quidem

Poenus probus est
Perduxit omnis ad suam sententiam. GID. O mi

here, salve Hanno,

Insperatussime mihi, tuisque filiis, salve atque eo
Mirari noli, neque me contemptarier. Cognoscin*

Giddenemen
Ancillam tuam ? POE. Novi, sed ubi sunt meae

gnatae ? id scire expeto.

AGO. Apud sedem Veneris. POE. Quid ibi fa-
qiunt, die mihi ?

PLAUTUS. 133

AGO. ^4phrodisia 9 * hodie Veneris est festus dies.

Oratum ierurit deam, ut
Sibi esset propitia. GID. Pol satis scio impetra-

runt, quando hie, hie
Adest. AGO. Eo an hujus sunt illae filise. GID.

Ita ut prsedicas.
Tua pietas nobis plane auxilio fuit. Cum hue ad-

venisti hodie in ipso
Tempore. Namque hodie earum mutarentur ^o-

mina.
Facerentque indignum genere qusestum corpore.

POE. Handone silli hanun bene silli in mustine.
ftanbone ^)IU barmnot bene p/lU ]n\ muftlne
Whenever Venus proves kind, or grants a favour,

she grants it linked or chained with misfortunes.
GID. Meipsi & en este dum & a lam na cestin urn.

Hear me, and judge, and do not too hastily ques-
tion me (about this surprize.)

* The Aphrodisia were celebrated in honour of Venus at
Cyprus and other places. Here, they who would be initiated,
gave a piece of money to Venus, as to a prostitute, and re-
ceived presents from her. Abbe Banier.

f Bene, Celtic, from whence Venus.

J This is a compound ofmuis and tine ; muis a frowning,
contracted, menacing brow, tine a link of a chain.

<xldJm alam, out of hand, off-hand, indiscriminately.

|| <xtn no an). I. oJc.

to question, to doubt, to be afraid.

13 i THE GAEL.

Free Translation of the foregoing Second
Scene of the Fifth Act of the Posnulus.

AGORASTOCLES. MILPHIO. HANNO.

Milphio. I will go and address them in Punic ;
if they will reply I will continue to speak in Pu-
nic : if not I will change my manner to their lan-
guage. What sayest thou ? Have you any re-
collection still of Punic.

Ag. None at all. For, tell me, how should he
be able to know it, who at six years of age was
stolen from Carthage.

Han. Immortal gods ! How many noble youths
have been stolen from Carthage in this manner ?

Mil. What sayest thou ?

Ag. What is your desire ?

Mil. Do you wish I should address him in
Punic ?

Ag. Do you understand it ?

Mil. There is no Carthaginian speaks purer
Punic at this day, well !

Ag. Ask what he wills, and for what he has
come who he is, and whence he is. Do not
be reserved with him.

Mil. Hoy, Sir Who are you and from what
city ?

Han. Hanno Muthumballe hi Chaedreanach.
lamHanno Muthumballe, dwelling at Carthage.

PLAUTUS. 135

Ag. What does he say ?

Mil. He says that he is Hanno, son of Mu-
thumballe, a Carthaginian from Carthage.

Han. Avo. Alas!

Mil. He salutes.

Han. Donni ! How unfortunate.

Mil. He wishes you to give him something
which I know not. Shall I promise him ?

Ag. Salute him again in Punic, using my
words.

Mil. Avo Donni ! He speaks to me, for you,
in his own language.

Han. A ma babacht ! O ! my dear child.

Mil. That is for you rather than me,

Ag. What says he ?

Mil. He says he is a miserable wretch, and
possibly mistakes us for physicians.

Ag. If so deny it, for I am unwilling to lead
your guest astray.

Mil. Hear, &c. &c.

Ag. So I wish ; I will doubtless, have re-
course to every method. Ask him now what he
is in need of?

Mil. You who have no money why have you
come to this city, and what do you seek ?
Han. Muphursa ! ! my grief.
Ag. What does he say ?
Han. Mi vule chianna ! My sorrow lasts long !

136 THE GAEL.

Ag. For what came he ?

Mil. You do not hear ? He says he wishes to
have the Edile plays in pomp at Carthage.

Han. Laech la chanaim liminichot. At any
price would I purchase my children.

Mil. He says that a narrow vessel and nuts
brought him now he prays that you may give
him assistance, in order that he may dispose of
the same.

Ag. I believe he is a trader.

Han. Is am ar uineam.

Ag. What is it ?

Han. Palum erga dechta ! 1 will submit to
my fate !

Ag. Milphio, what does he now say ?

Mil. He says that he sells spades and pitchforks,
that he will dig the garden and cut corn. I think
that he might be sent to your harvest.

Ag. What is that to me ?

Mil. I wished that you should be correctly in-
formed, and that you may not fancy he has re-
ceived any thing privately.

Han. Maphanniumsucorahim. I hope to finish
my labour and be at rest.

Mil. Hem ! Be cautious how you grant what
he asks.

Ag. What does he say ? What does he ask for,
tell me at once.

Mil. You may order him to be put under tor-

PLAUTUS. 137

ture, and have many stones to be laid over him,
that you may kill him.

Han. Gan ebel Balsameni ar a san. That the

good Baalsamin (Apollo) may favour thee.

Ag. What does he say ?

Mil. By Hercules now, indeed I know it.

Han. That you may know henceforward, I
will address myself to you in Latin, &c.

ACT FIFTH SCENE THIRD.

GIDDENEME. MILPHIO. HANNO. AGORASTOCLES.

Gid. Who knocks?

Mil. Who is next to you ?

Gid. What would you ?

Mil. Ha, do you know who this man with the
tunic may be ?

Gid. Who is this I behold ! By the great Jove,
he is indeed my master, and the father of my
foster children Hanno, the Carthaginian !

Mil. Behold what evils this supposed cun-
ning fellow turns out an honest Carthaginian, and
inclines all to his interest.

Gid. Hail, O my dear master Hanno, most
unexpected to me and your children hail, do not
be surprized, nor slight me. Do you not recog-
nize your servant Giddeneme.

THE GAEL.

Hanno. I know you, but where are my chil-
dren, that above all things I desire to know.

Ag. At the temple of Venus.

Han. What are they doing there, tell me ?

Ag. This is the Aphrodisia a festival day of
Venus, and they are gone to supplicate the god-
dess that she may be propitious.

Gid. I think they have done enough, since
their father is come.

Ag. Are they his daughters !

Gid. It is even as you say your goodness has
evidently been of advantage to us. You came
here in good time this day, for to-day they will
change their name, and make unworthy gain by
their noble bodies.

Han. Handone silli hanun bene silli in mus-
tine. Whenever Venus grants a favour, it is
linked with misfortune.

Gid. Meipsi et en este dum et a lam na cestin
um. Hear me, and judge, and do not hastily
question me, fyc.

BRITONS AND GAULS.

CHAPTER V.

Celtic Gaul included central France and Switzerland Hel-
vetii, Tigurini, Sfc. tribes of the same people Erroneous no-
tion of the Welsh being Celts, or the descendants of the Ro-
man Britons No affinity between the Welsh and Gaelic
Vergobretus EdwardLhuyd's ArchceologiaHis notion of
the Gwydhelians or Gael they possessed Wales before the
Welsh Rowland Ccesar^s account of the Gauls their civi-
lization DivitiacusLiscus used Greek characters Vene-
ti their ships had 200 large vessels The Britons British
money gold, brass, and iron rings Unclean beasts Jewish
custom of marriage among the Britons mistaken by Ccesar
Factions Druids originated in Britain used Greek let-
ters Gauls boasted of their pedigrees Clans Germans
have no Druids Avaricum Critognatus his speech
Cippos, what f

I have endeavoured, I trust successfully, to
establish the fact of the identity of the Gaelic and
Phenician language, and that the Gael, or Celtse,
were a Phenician colony. I shall now attempt
to prove that the antient Britons and Gauls, of

1 iO THE GAEL.

Caesar's day, spoke the Gaelic language, and were
the same people as the Irish, by proceeding to in-
vestigate, in the first instance, the language, re-
ligion, institutions, manners, and customs of the
Celtee of South Britain and Gaul in the time of
the Romans.

Csesar limits Celtic Gaul to the country in-
cluded from north to south between the Seine and
the Garonne, and from the ocean on the west to
the Rhine in Helvetia, and the Rhone on the
east. Confining the Celtee within those limits we
should recollect that the Acquitani and Belgae
were often called Gauls by the Romans, and that
Ceesar styled all modern France Gaul, but em-
phatically designates the Celtse as the Galli, " ter-
tiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtte, nostri, Galli ap-
pellantur ;" and in speaking of the three nations,
Belgse, Acquitani, and Celtse, he says, " Hi omnes,
lingua, institutis, legibus, inter se different."

Although Csesar gives different names to the
people occupying the large area inhabited by
the Celtae, comprising two thirds of modern
France, and nearly all Switzerland, they should
be considered, perhaps without an exception, but
as tribes or divisions of the same nation, who de-
rived their denomination from some ancestor,

BRITONS AND GAULS. 141

place of residence, or other fortuitous circum-
stance.

The chief divisions of these tribes were the
Helvetii, and their subdivisions, the Tigurini,
Tugeni, Seduni, Rauraci, Ambrones, the Sequani,
Segusiani and the Urbigenes. To the west of the
Rhone and Garonne, dwelt the ^Edui, Mandubii,
Boli, Lingones, Meldi, Cubi, Bituriges, Lemo-
vices, Ruteni, Sautones, Pictones, Namnetes, Ve-
neti, Corispiti, Osismii, Curiosolites, Unelli, Rhe-
dones, Aulerci, Carnutes, Euberovices, Aulerci,
Lexovii, Viducasses, Bajocasses, and some other
smaller tribes.

These names are here recited because they
are of considerable value and importance, for
they, as well as the names of the deities, princes,
eminent persons, rivers, towns, and prominent
features, and every word handed down by Csesar,
Tacitus, and other Roman writers, as Celtic,
are either purely Gaelic or reducible to their
elements and meaning in the Gaelic language.

Tacitus says the language of the Gauls and
Britons differed but little, " Sermo hand multum
diver sus" and Caesar declares, " neque multum

* Tacitus in Agricola, c. ii.

142 THE GAEL.

a Gallica differnnt consuetudine ;* in fact, it
may be inferred from both that they were the
same people ; and it is not a little extraordinary,
that points so very important to the development
of true history, should apparently have altogether
escaped attention, or not to have led to more
decisive conclusions.

This may chiefly be attributed to two notions
which have obtained and prevailed to an extraor-
dinary extent, that the true origin of the Gauls
and Britons have remained so long a mystery ;
I say extraordinary extent, because had the ques-
tion been examined by any competent person, he
must, I conceive, soon have discovered the true
state of the case.

The first is that universally admitted axiom,
that the Welsh are the genuine descendants of
the Roman Britons who retired into Wales on
the fall of the Roman empire, and there pre-
served their language and independence.

The second is, that there is little difference be-
tween the Welsh and the Irish languages, both
being considered branches of the Celtic.

Cssar Comm. lib. v, 14.

BRITONS AND GAULS. 143

Neither of these propositions are true ; the
Welsh are not the descendants of the antient Ro-
man Britons, and there are not perhaps two lan-
guages less similar in their construction than the
Welsh and Gaelic.

Having acquired a knowledge of the Irish
and Welsh languages, I recollected what Cae-
sar and Tacitus had said of the Gauls and
Britons, and determined again to examine those
authors with a view to ascertain if there .was
evidence, in either, to prove that the language of
Gaul was really the tongue now denominated
Irish, or Gaelic, or the Welsh. I have been
amply compensated ; for if I have not greatly de-
ceived myself, it has led to results of the utmost
importance to historic knowledge. The first point
which struck me with no small surprize and satis-
faction, was the following in Csesar.*

" The ^Edui having promised Csesar a . supply
of corn, which on various pretexts had been de-
layed, he called before him their chiefs, who were
in his camp, among them Divitiacus and Liscus,
at that time their sovereign magistrates, and were

* Caesar, ch. vi.

144 THE GAEL.

called by the JEdui Vergobret, " quern fergobre-
tnm appellunt ^Edui, qui creatur annuum, et vitse
necisque in suos habet protestatem." Here I
found a pure Irish title ; and although the custom
of annual election has not, as far as I have been
able to collect, obtained in Ireland, yet the kings
and chiefs have ever been elective. The word is
a compound of j:ea/i, a man ; go, for ; fyeJte,
judgment, or the chief judge, pronounced Per-
gobree.

The credit of having first made this discovery,
I have since ascertained, is due to the learned
Edward Lhuyd, who published it in the Welsh
preface to the Archeologia, (afterward published
in English by Bishop Nicholson in the Irish His-
torical Library.) It is very singular, however,
that this learned person should have locked up the
discovery in the Welsh language, it did not
make its appearance in English until 1724. His
words are :

" Vergobretus, says Caesar, signified a chief ma-
gistrate in the language of the ^Edui." " Liscus
qui summo magistratui prseerat, quern Vergobre-
tum, vocant ^Edui, qui creatur annuus, et vita
necisque in suos habet potestatem." Now, Fear
go breath, signifies a judge verbatim, the man

BRITONS AND GAULS. 1 i<5

that judges. And it was by taking notice of this
word that I first suspected the Gwydhelians* to
be antient Gauls, a thing I see at present no
reason to doubt about. Seeing then, we find by
the antient language of the Celtee, and by a great >
number of the old Gwydhelian words, that are
still extant in the present French, that the Gwyd-
helians came originally out of France.t Some will
winder how it comes to pass, that we find so
many Teutonick, or German words in the Irish.
But the reason for that was, that those people, of
the old Gaul, called Belgse, spoke the Teutonick
as they do yet : and besides the Celtse that came

J 7

hither, and passed some ages afterwards into Ire-
land, some of the Belgas came also, and those +> ct^\
were the very men they called Firbolg, who came,
according to their tradition, into Ireland long

before the Scots."

**4 -&c* f "?*** c*. ^ &<

In considering the origin of the Welsh or
Cymbri, it will be necessary to advert again to
Mr. Lhuyd and other Welsh authors, their argu-
ments and opinions belong more particularly to
that branch of the subject.

* The Welsh name for the Irish or Gael.
f This by no means follows.

L

THE GAEL.

As Caesar's account of the Helvetii, who were a
colony of the ^Edui, exhibit no inconsiderable ad-
vancement in civilization, we may justly suppose
that the mother country and the previous co-
lonies were not less civilized. What, therefore,
we read of the Helvetii, we are justified in apply-
ing to the Britons, as Csesar says the learning of
the Druids had its origin in the British isles,
and that the chief seat of the Druids, was in
an island, west of Britain. The Helvetii having
been induced, by the authority of Orgetorix, to
attempt the subjugation of their neighbours, " they
resolved to make provision of such things as
was required for their purposed expedition, and
bought great numbers of cars, and horses for
carriages, and for two years sowed much corn
that they might have plenty in store, and in the
third year enacted a solemn law that Orgeto-
rlx should be a kind of dictator" Here are
the unequivocal marks and indications of civili-
zation and obedience to law. Afterwards he states
they had great store of boats, with which they
made a bridge over the river Arar.

The speech of Divico, the Helvetian, to Caesar,
is also remarkable ; when required to give hostages
for the fidelity of his people, he replied, that
" their ancestors taught them by their example

CJESAR. 147

to demand and not to give hostages" Thereby
intimating their former martial glory and con-
quests.

The speech of Liscus also shows that, among
some of the Celtse, the people had no small in-
fluence in the state : " There were some indivi-
duals of so great authority that they could do
more by private influence with the people, than
they could being magistrates"*

The cities of the Celtse of Gaul, were great
and rich. " Bibracte oppido ^Eduornm longe
maxima et copiosissimo" Caesar's general re-
marks on the Gauls, prove them to have been
an intelligent and by no means an uncivilized
people.

The Helvetians were armed with shields and a
sword. " The Gauls were very much annoyed
by the Roman piles having pierced their shields,
which they could not extract on account of the

* " Turn demum Liscus oratione Caesaris adduetus, quod
autea tacuerat proponit. Esse nonnullos quorum auctoritas
apud plebem plurimum valeat, qui privatim plus possint,
quam ipsi magistrate."

L J2

14<8 THE GAEL.

iron having- bent ; nor could they afterwards use
their left hands for their defence, and many of
them threw away their shields, arid fought, dis-
armed, as it were, without them."*

There is a strong resemblance in this mode of
fighting with that of the Highlanders of Scotland ;
even so late as the last century, they used the
little buckler and the broad sword.

The Helvetii were armed with darts and jave-
lins " et nonnulli inter carros rotasque mataras
ac tragulas subjiciebant nostrosque vulnerabant."

These were also the weapons of the Irish ; and
spear heads of brass of all sizes are found in
great abundance.

" In the Helvetian camps were found written
in Greek characters, lists of the number of

* " Gallis magno ad pti'gnam erat impedimenta, quod pluri-
bus eorum scutis uno icfcu pilorum transfixis et colligatis,
cum ferrum se inflexissit, neque evellere, neque sinistra im-
pedita, satis commode pugnare poterat ; multi ut diu jac-
tate bracchio, praeoptarent scutum manu emittere et nudo.
corpora pugnare."

CAESAR.

those who left their country, which were brought
to Caesar, distinguishing those who were able to
Lear arms, the boys, old men, and the women,
making a total of 368,000, of which 192,000
were able to bear arms.* Here it appears the
Celtse used a character similar to the Greek, and
were a literate people, although they were the
most warlike and fierce of all the Celtic Gauls,
and less addicted to learning than the other tribes,
having so much employment in defending them-
selves from their fierce neighbours on the north
bank of the Rhine. If these were literate, how
much more so were those to whom they sent their
children for instruction ?

It appears from another passage of Caesar, that
although they used Greek characters, yet they
were not acquainted with the Greek language, for
he wrote his letter, or dispatch, to Cicero in Greek,
lest it should be intercepted and his designs thus
frustrated. Is not this a strong fact in support of

*"In castris Helvetiorum tabulae repertaa sunt, litter is
Greeds confecta, et ad Caesarem perlatse : quibus in tabulis
nominatim ratio confecta erat, qui numerus domo exisset eo-
rum, qui arma ferre possunt, et item separatim pueri, series,
mulieresque."

150 THE GAEL.

the Phenician origin of the Celtse ? The Greeks
had their original alphabet, of eighteen letters,
from the Phenicians, so had the Celtse, as will ap-
pear when we enter more fully into their origin.

M. Valerius Procillus was sent to Ariovistus,
because he was well acquainted with the Celtic
language, which Ariovistus had learned from his
long residence among the Gauls."* It is waste of
time and argument to attempt to prove that Ario-
vistus was not of Celtic extraction, even if the
German language did not prove it.

The Veneti, the most powerful of the states
of Gaul, inhabited the country to the north of
the mouth of the Loire, and their name is to be
found in the town of Vannes, or Vennes. -
" Quod et naves habent Veneti plurimas quibus
in Britanniam navigare consueverunt."

The following is Caesar's description of the
shipping of these Veneti :

" The ships of the Gauls were thus built and
equipped. Their keels were flatter than those of

* " Et propter linguae Gatlicae scientiam, qua multu jam
Ariovistus longinqua consuetudine utebatur."

CAESAR. 151

the Romans, and therefore better calculated for
a shallow and flat coast ; the fore-castle was erect
and perpendicular, and the poop was so contrived
as to bear the force of the large tempestuous waves.
They were altogether built for strength. The ribs
and beams were made of timber a foot square
and fastened with iron bolts an inch thick. In-
stead of cables, their anchors were made fast with
iron chains ;* they also made their sails of hides,
either for want, or ignorance of the use of linen for
that purpose, or because sails made of linen would
scarcely be strong enough to serve ships of so
great a burthen, or be able to sustain the force
and violence of the tempestuous winds of those
seas. The Roman vessels exceeded those ships in
the celerity of their motions, by means of their
oars, but, in navigating those coasts, and encoun-
tering foul weather, they were altogether inferior.
They were built so strong that the Romans could
not injure them by running their prows, or beak-
heads, against them, nor could they throw their
weapons with any effect into them, they were of
such great altitude ; besides which, in case of foul
weather, these ships could with safety put to sea,
or more safely lie on a flat shore, without fear of

* Chain cables ! nothing new under the sun.

THE GAEL.

the damages to which the sharp built Roman
vessels were always exposed."

" The Veneti mustered two hundred large skips
to oppose Csesar's fleet. They trusted entirely to
sails, and the Romans having- cut the ropes by
which they hoisted them up, by means of a kind
of crooked knife, or reaping hook, fastened to a
pole, rendered those heavy vessels unmanagable r
and thus conquered them."

" While the Gauls take much pleasure in their
oxen, and purchase them at a great price, the
Germans never think of importing a better de-
scription than their own ugly and ill-formed cattle,
which, by daily and constant use, they inure to
perform the required service."*

*' The Gauls are too ready to commence hos-
tilities, yet are they impatient in suffering the ca-
lamities and consequences thereof. f

* " Quin etiam jumentrs, quibus maxime Gallia delectatur,
quajque impenso parant pretio. German! importalis non
utuntur, sed quae sunt apud eos nata prava atque deform a,
Lsec quotidiana exercitatione summi ut sint laboris, efficiunt."

f " Nam ut ad bella suscipienda, Gallorum alacer ac pronip-
tus est animus, sic mollis minime resistens ad calamitate*
perf'ereiidas mcns eoruni est."

C^SAR. 153

" Caesar being aware of these circumstances, and
being- apprehensive of the fickleness of the Gauls,
who are sudden in their resolutions, and fond of no-
velty, he dare not trust them ; for they are accus-
tomed to inquire of travellers and passengers for
news of what had happened j and even the com-
mon people would flock about traders in the
towns, asking whence they came, and what news
they had brought, and by these rumours they
were generally influenced in their actions, of
which they had generally to repent, trusting in
such uncertain intelligence, coined to please the
multitude/'

" Although the summer was nearly past, and
winter in those northern parts of Gaul comes on
very suddenly, still Caesar determined to go over
to Britain, having ascertained that in all the for-
mer wars the Gauls had received their chief sup-
ply of provisions from thence, and if the ad-
vanced period of the year should prevent his put-
ting an end to the war there, yet, it would be im-
portant if he went to examine the island, to as-
certain the quality of the inhabitants, their ports,
and landing places, of which most of the Gauls
were (or pretended to be) ignorant, for seldom
did any but merchants go to that country. Nor
had even they any knowledge of more than the

154> THE GAEL.

sea coast opposite to Gaul. For having called
together the merchants from all quarters, he could
not ascertain from them either the size of the
island, or by what nations it was inhabited, what
was their mode of warfare, their laws, customs,
institutions, or even what ports they had capa-
ble of receiving or sheltering a large fleet."

The merchants could not have been ignorant
of Britain as they pretended ; indeed, the first part
of the paragraph contradicts the last. For, if the
Gauls received their chief supplies from Britain,
the best intercourse and understanding must have
existed between the two nations, and it will appear
hereafter that the Gauls sent their youth for in-
struction to Britain, which implies a constant well
understood intercourse. But the natural conclu-
sion is that the British merchants, who supplied
their friends and allies, the Gauls, wished to deceive
the common enemy ; and that their ignorance was
feigned, is clear, for the news of his intentions and
preparations went with great celerity across the
channel, and many of the petty states on the coast
sent their ambassadors to him with offers of sub-
mission. He first sent over C. Volusenus to in-
spect the coast, who after five days returned
with the information he had collected. After
a short time he embarked two legions in eighty

155

ships of burthen, and set sail from the neighbour-
hood of the Morini, about Bolougne, with a fair
wind ; on his arrival he found the high cliffs
lined and occupied by the Britons ; not think-
ing it safe to land there, he sailed eight miles
from that place to an open and flat shore. The
Britons, perceiving Caesar's intentions, sent for-
ward the horses and chariots, which they
were accustomed to use in war, and afterwards
brought up the rest of their forces to the place
where the Romans intended to land very
much annoying them, who were heavily laden, by
their missile weapons ; but, when the Romans
removed from the large ships into the gallies, with
which the Britons were unacquainted, they as-
sailed them with slings, arrows, and engines ; after
some time the Romans made good their landing,
and dispersed the enemy. Afterwards, from
the ignorance of the Romans of the tides, their
shipping and gallies getting on shore at high water
and a spring tide, were much injured, which in-
duced the Britons to make further efforts.

" The manner of fighting of the Britons with
chariots, was to drive up and down, and to throw
their javelins, when they saw they could do it with
advantage, and by the terror of their vehicles to
their enemy ; when they had entangled

THE GAEL.

the cavalry of their enemy, they dismounted
and fought on foot, while their charioteers would
retire behind them to wait their master's commands,
ever ready to attend them, thus uniting to the
celerity of cavalry the firm stability of infantry;
and so expert were they in their motions, that they
could halt on the declivity of a hill, turn short,
or moderate their rate of going, at their pleasure,
run along the pole of their chariots, and remain
on the yoke or harness of their horses, and in an
instant regain their former position."

Caesar had eight hundred ships at his second
invasion.

" The interior of Britain is inhabited by those
who may be considered natives, whose ancestors
were born in the island, but the coasts were peo-
pled by Belgic tribes, who settled in possessions
they had gained by the sword, or otherwise,, and
were called by the name of the cities from whence
they came in Belgium. The country is very popu-
lous and they possess as good houses as in Gaul.
They have great store of cattle, and use for
money, gold, brass, and iron rings, by certain
w r eight. la the interior they have much tin, and
on the coasts they have some iron ; they import
brass. Thev have all kinds of trees which are

CAESAR. 157

found in Gaul, but the % and the beech. Their
religion forbids their eating 1 either the hare, the hen,
or the goose, notwithstanding they have great vari-
eties.* The climate is more temperate than that
of Gaul . The island is of triangular shape, whereof
one side lays on the east towards Gaul, on which is
Kent ; this angle is five hundred miles long.
The other side lies towards Spain, to the west, on
which side Hibernia is placed, an island about half
the size of Britain, and about as far from it as it is
from Gaul. In the mid-way between Britain and
Ireland lies an island called Mona, and several
smaller islands, of which some write, that in win-
ter they have darkness for thirty days, of which
we could learn little from our inquiries ; we found,
however, by certain measures of water, that the
nights in Britain were shorter than on the con-
tinent. The third side of the angle lies to the
north and the open sea, pointing towards Ger-

* The hare was an unclean animal among the Jews, and
probably among the Phenicians also. Caesar may have been
deceived in this as well as other facts related by him of the
opinions of the Britons. We have no corroboration of their
not eating these animals from other authorities ; it appears,
by what is before stated, that the Britons purposely misre-
presented facts to him. For instance, the statement about
the Isle of Man, and the custom of promiscuous intercourse
with women, as hereafter remarked.

158 THE GAEL.

many this is said to be eight hundred miles long 1 .
The whole island is estimated at two thousand
miles in circumference. Of all the inhabitants,
those of Kent are the most civilized, they dif-
fer little from the Gauls. Some of the people of
the interior sow no corn, but'live upon milk and
flesh, are clothed with skins, having their faces
painted blue, that they may appear more terrible
in fight ; they wear their hair long, not allowing
any to grow on" their bodies, except their upper
lip. Their wives are common to ten or twelve,
especially of brethren with brethren, and parents
with children, but the children are accounted his
to whom the mother was first given in marriage."

This custom of the Britons, it is presumed, has
been mistaken ; the wives were not in common,
during the lives of the husbands, but a woman
was given, on the death of her husband, to
his brother, " that he might raise up seed to
his deceased brother," for " the children were"
says Csesar, " counted his to whom the mother
was first given in marriage' 9 It is unnecessary
to point out the Phenician origin of this custom,
Holy Writ supplies it. What has generally been
considered as a proof of the profligate manners
of the antient Britons, is nothing more than an
adherence to the antient customs of their ances-

159

tors, before they left the east, and has nothing in
it to shock the most moral mind. Caesar knew
the fact imperfectly, and gave it, as he understood
it, erroneously.

There is much contradiction and inconsistency
in some accounts of Caesar's with other parts of
his writings, and even with the succeeding para-
graph in which he gives an account of their dis-
cipline and manner of fighting, of their horses
and chariots, which evinces he was deceived,
and that the Britons were not the uncivilized bar-
barians he elsewhere represents them. In fact it ap-
pears that he knew little or nothing of the inha-
bitants of the interior, of his own knowledge ; he
was told that they painted themselves blue, and
were represented as low in the scale of civilization,
although the evidence he supplies would lead us to
draw a contrary conclusion. He evidently al-
luded to the Caledonians, when he speaks of the
painted people of the interior. In his account
of the Druids, he tells us the most learned of the
Celtae were those of Britain ; and yet afterwards,
in describing its inhabitants, he makes them much
lower in the scale of humanity than those who
sent their sons to be educated by them. If he be
right in one place he must be wrong in the other,
or at least we cannot have rightly understood

160 THE GAEL.

him. It is said by others that the chief seat of.
Druidic learning, was in an island west of Bri-
tain, not in Britain itself; if this be true, Caesar
may yet have spoken correctly when he said
the Gauls sent their youth for education to Bri-
tain, i. e. to one of the British isla?ids.

" In Gaul, not only in every city, town, vil-
lage, and precinct, but almost in every tribe, and fa-
mily, there are factions, whose chiefs possess such
authority, that all their actions are guided by
their direction. This appears a very antient
custom, instituted to enable the poorest, and most
inconsiderable, to demand justice and protection
at the hand of the great, who, if they ever suf-
fered their followers to be oppressed or defrauded,
would lose all authority amongst them."

This remarkable passage is equally applicable
to the Irish as to the Gauls, the power of the
chief depended entirely on his power to protect
his clansmen. It is also an instance of the incon-
sistency of Caesar's remarks, who in the very next
chapter, in his description of the Druids, says
that the common people, among the Gauls, were
mere slaves and bondmen, and had no influence
whatever in the state. Such are the inconsistencies
of this admirable author.

C/ESAR. 161

" Throughout all Gaul there are but two de-
scriptions, or ranks of men, who are of any ac-
count, for the common people are but servants,
and are never admitted to a voice in any public
assembly, but, being kept under by poverty, extor-
tion, or the oppression of the great, become as
it were bond slaves.

" Of these two classes the one are the Druids,
the other the knights," or gentry, or nobles, to
use the language of the continent.

" The Druids are occupied with the sacred du-
ties of expounding their religion and ordering
the ceremonies of their public and private sa-
crifices. To them also the youth are committed
for education, and they are held in such honour
and reputation, that all controversies or disputes,
both public and private, are referred to their de-
cision. If any offence be committed, as murder,
or manslaughter, or any dispute respecting their
estates of lands or inheritance, it is the Druids
who decide, punishing the guilty and rewarding
the virtuous. If any one, even a prince or no-
ble, dispute or disobey their mandate, they ex-
communicate him from the rites of religion, which
is the severest punishment among them. When
this sentence is passed on any, they are reputed

M

THE GAEL.

of the number of impious and wicked, they are
shunned and avoided by all, and their society re-
jected lest they should contaminate by their com-
munion. They are likewise put out of the pro-
tection of the law, nor can they demand justice
if they require it, nor claim any honour due to
their rank or station. The Druids have over
them a chief, high priest, or primate, who
possesses supreme authority, on whose death, if
any one is super-eminent in power and dignity,
he succeeds, but if there are many of equal rank,
they proceed to election, and even on some oc-
casions, decide the contest by the sword. They
meet at a certain period of the year near Chartres
(in the confines of the Carnutes,) which is in the
centre of Gaul, and sit there in a sacred place,
and then all people who have suits or controver-
sies resort to have them decided, and implicitly
obey their orders and decrees.

" The art and learning of the Druids, had its
origin in Britain, and was brought thence into
Gaul, and even at this time (Caesar's) such as
would attain perfect knowledge of their discipline
and learning in general, travel thither to learn
it. The Druids are exempt from military service,
from the payment of taxes, and all other civil
duties. Many adopt the profession of their own

CAESAR. 103

will, and others are sent to the school by their
friends. They are said to learn many verses,
and even continue their studies for twenty years.
It is not lawful for them to commit their learning*

o

to writing, and for that I consider they have two
reasons first, that their learning 1 should not be-
come common or vulgar and secondly, that their
scholars should not trust so much to their writings
as their memory, as it generally happens when
men trust to their books and writings they ne-
glect the advantage of a good memory. In their
common concerns of life, however, both private
and public, they use, in their writings, the
Greek letters.

" They teach, as their chief doctrine, that men's
souls are immortal, and move from one body
to another after death, which they consider
important to stir men up to the practice of virtue
and contempt of death. They also teach the
youth many points touching the motions of the
stars and heavenly bodies, the magnitude of the
earth, the nature of this world and of all things,
and the dignity and power of the gods.

" The second class of men are the knights, or
nobles, who, whenever an occasion arises, as wars,
or commotions, which before Caesar's coming,

164 THE GAEL.

occurred every year, to offer or resist injuries,
are always parties ; and as one man exceeds
another in birth, wealth, or power, so he is
attended by his clansmen or followers, which
they consider the chief mark of nobility.

" The whole nation of the Gauls are much
addicted to religion ; and, when any one is griev-
ously diseased, or embarrassed in their warlike en-
terprises, they either sacrifice men as an oblation,
or vow to sacrifice themselves, by the ministry of
the Druids, being persuaded that the deity cannot
be propitiated but by giving the life of one man
for that of another, and for this end they have
public sacrifices appointed ; others have mon-
strous large images made of osiers, or wicker work,
in whose bodies and limbs are put human vic-
tims, which being set on fire are burned to
death. The execution of those convicted of
robbery, theft, or other crime, they consider most
pleasing to the gods, but, if such are not to be
had, they spare not the innocent. Their chief deity
is Mercury i whose image is numerous among
them, they adore him as the inventor of all arts,
the conductor and guide in travelling, and they
consider him as possessing great power and
influence in merchandize and money transactions.
Next to him they prefer Apollo, Mars, Jupiter,

CAESAR. 165

and Minerva, of whom they hold the same opi-
nions as other nations. Apollo in healing 1 diseases,
Minerva in finding out artificial works, Jove in
ruling the heavens, and Mars for war. When
they are about to encounter an enemy, they pro-
mise to devote the spoil to him, and such beasts as
they capture they sacrifice ; other things they lay
up in some place, and many such heaps of things,
thus taken, are to be seen in the holy places of
their cities. Nor does it often occur that any
one neglects or violates his vow, by keeping
back any part, or ever take away spoils thus de-
voted, for they would incur a heavy penalty and
torture for that offence.

" The Gauls boast themselves much on their
pedigrees and ancestry, being taught by the Druids
that they descended from the god Dis. And they
number their times by nights rather than by days,
observing their days, years, and nativities, in such
a way as to make the days follow the nights."
Here is a strong indication of Phenician origin,
a custom in exact accordance with that of the Jews.
'The evening and the morning were the first
day. 9

" They differ also from all nations in that they
never suffer their sons to approach their assembly

16G THE GAEL.

until they are grown fit for war, thinking it scan-
dalous for a son to stand in public in his fa-
ther's presence.

" To the portions which they receive with their
wives, they add as much of their own goods, and
the use of this money, added together, is kept
apart, and the longest liver hath both the principal
and interest. The men have power of life and death
over their wives and children. And when a man,
of high birth and great rank, dies, his relations
assemble to inquire as to the cause of his decease ;
if there be any cause of suspicion against his
wife, she is put to the torture, after the manner of
a slave, and if guilty, she dies tormented with fire
and every species of torture. Their funerals, ac-
cording with their rank of life, are very sumptu-
ous, burying with the body all he took delight in
while living, not sparing even living creatures.
The custom was not, long since, even to bury with
their bodies such of his followers and slaves as
w ? ere most favoured by the deceased.

" In some of the states it is prohibited, by a
special law, to speak or give out a rumour or re-
port, touching the state, to any one but a magis-
trate, as it has been found that ignorant men have
been terrified by false reports, and thus moved

C^SAR. 167

to desperate acts against the public peace. The
magistrates publish such things as they think fit,
but it is not lawful to speak publicly on matters
of state but in the assemblies of the state."

No one can read this without being struck
with the remarkable coincidence of character ex-
hibited here with that of the Irish nation, as far
as their customs, predilections, and manners,
have come down to us. Caesar says :

" The art and learning of the Druids had its
origin in Britain (the British isles), and was
brought thence into Gaul." And their customs,
and learning, of course travelled together. The
source of learning and the institutions of a people
are ever held in the greatest veneration and re-
spect ; and we may fairly attribute to the people
from whom the learning originated, and proceeded,
greater and more refined acquirements and cul-
tivation in that learning, than would be found in
the people who sent their youth to them to be
instructed.

" As one man exceeds another in birth, power,
or wealth, so is he attended by his clansmen, or
followers, which they consider the chief mark of
nobility."

168 THE GAEL.

This passage shows in a remarkable manner,
the identity of customs between the antient Gauls
and the Gael of Ireland. Their chief must pos-
sess first the qualification of being of the blood of
the clan ; if he has this, then his power and wealth
gave him the pre-eminence ; so it was with the
Irish, while the law of tanistry existed. The most
warlike and valiant of the tribe was ever chosen
tanist, or heir presumptive to the reigning chief.
The dignity must descend in the royal tribe, but
it mattered not how distant he stood in his rela-
tion to the chief in possession. " The whole na-
tion of the Gauls are much addicted to religion."
In this respect they also resemble the Irish, the
inhabitants of the island of saints.

" The Gauls boast themselves much on their
pedigrees and ancestry."

No nation, the Jews, perhaps, excepted, has
been so attached to their genealogies, and keep-
ing up the knowledge of their descent, as the
Irish. Their most antient MSS. are replete
with genealogies, and the numerous affiliations
of their descents, although, generally speaking,
they consist of mere names, without dates or his-
torical notices. Some, indeed, of their most
antient pedigrees are metrical, and contain a

CAESAR. 169

few notices of the acts of the individuals men-
tioned, but they are meagre and scanty. At this
day you will scarcely find a peasant in any of the
provinces of Ireland, who is not able to recite his
ancestors by name for ten generations.

In their mode of burial they were also si-
milar to the customs of the Gauls, for in the tu-
muli are found fibulae, weapons, and utensils
buried with the body. The Irish to this day are
addicted to extravagance, far above their means,
in their sumptuous funerals.

" The Germans differ much in their manners,
for they have neither Druids to perform divine
service, nor sacrifices. They worship no gods
but such as are obvious to their senses, and such
as they fancy they receive daily benefits from,
as the Sun, Moon, Vulcan, &c. other gods they
have not so much as heard of, &c."

" The Gauls, formerly, exceeded the Germans in
military prowess, and often made war upon them,
and, on account of the superabundant population
and want of room to dwell in, they sent many colo-
nies into Germany ; and thus those fertile por-
tions of Germany, near the Hercynian forest
(which Eratosthenes and other Greek writers men-
tion under the name of Orcinia) were possessed

170 THE GAEL.

by the Volscse Teetosages who still dwelt there,
and preserve their antient civility and ideas of
justice."

In the account of the seige of Avaricum, the
Gauls are thus described :

" They (the Gauls) are a very intelligent and
clever people, ever ready to imitate what they see
others do, for they avoided our hooks with ropes,
and drew them into the town with engines, and
drew the earth from the mounts thrown up against
the walls ; by their skill and dexterity in mining,
which they acquired by their great iron mines, they
set up towers on the walls, and covered them with
raw hides ; and often made sallies by night and
day, set fire to the mount, and assaulted the be-
siegers in their works, and daily raised their tow-
ers of equal height, which the daily increase of
the mount had added to the Roman works 5 they
also annoyed the open trenches, and hindered their
approach to the wall, with casting into them hot
boiling pitch, and large stones, and sharp stakes
of wood burned at the ends. They built their
walls in the following manner : long strait beams
are placed in the ground tw 7 o feet from each other,
bound together on the inside of the wall, and fast-
ened with much earth, with the vacancies between

CAESAR. 171

the beams, fitted well with large stonesin the
front of the wall, which being" thus placed, are
cemented with mortar ; another course is then laid,
laying the beams on the stones alternately, and
thus until the wall is raised to its due height.
This is a very strong way of building, and looks
very well, keeping alternate courses of beams and
stones in even lines ; thus, in defence, the stones
keep it from burning, and the wood from the ef-
fect of the battering ram. The beams are gene-
rally about forty feet long, and can neither be
broken nor pulled out."

" Vercingetorix commanded all the archers, of
which there are great numbers in Gaul, to attend
him. Among the ^Edui the chief magistrate was
prohibited from leaving the country."

"The town of Alesia %lea^, a pleasant
place, or country, which was besieged by Csesar,
and reduced to great straits for provisions ; he
caused additional works to be raised round about
it, and among other things he planted stakes with
pointed ends, so that if any of the besieged rush-
ed out, to attack the besiegers, or destroy the
works, they would rush upon and be pierced by
these stakes, like a modern cheveux de frige.
These stakes, says Caesar hos Cippos appellabant

THE GAEL.

in Irish, is a sharpened stake, used for
planting.

" A speech made on occasion of this siege, by
Critognatus, a chief man of the Arverni, whose
name was, as usual, very descriptive of his cha-
racter in the Gaelic, the creator, or causer, of
trembling or terror c/^teac, terror or tremb-
ling fleactci/i, without, outwardly, or from any
one ne<xc, any one t<x/i, out of. Caesar says,
" Non prsetereunda videtur oratio Critognati
propter ejus singularem ac nefariam crudelitatem."

" Nothing," says he, " will I say of the opi-
nion of those who call base servitude by the
name of surrender, for I do not consider them
worthy of being considered citizens, or admitted
to the counsel. My intercourse must be with
those who approve of sallies and resistance, in
whose counsel appears, by unanimous opinion,
to remain the recollection of antient virtue.
It is not virtue, but debility of mind, that is
not able to suffer privations for a time. Some
men will more readily offer themselves to suffer
death, than others endure hardship with patience.
For my part, honour is paramount with me, I
should prefer the first, did I not see a farther sa-
crifice than our lives. In these, our consultations,

CvESAR. 173

we must consider the interest of all Gaul whom
we have called around us for succour. What
courage, do you imagine, would possess our friends
and kinsmen, of whom 80,000 were slain in one
place, if they were to fight upon their dead bo-
dies. Do not defraud those of your help who
have despised danger for your sakes, or by your
weakness, rashness, or debility of mind, plunge
all Gaul into slavery. Do you question their
fidelity and constancy, because they appear not
at a given day ? What do the Romans mean
then by the works they have thrown up ? Do you
think it is for exercise, or amusement ? If you
receive no messengers, because communication
is cut off, let these works be your witnesses that
your friends ai;e coming, for fear of whom the
Romans labour both night and day. What then
is my counsel ? wWlet us follow the glorious ex-
ample of our foj*4fEhers, in the wars against the
Cimbri andJfiiH Ipes, a war not to be compared
to this, wheij/j jjjg inclosed in the walled towns,
a like distress and want, they sa-
te cravings of hunger on the bodies of
lose who were unfit for war, and would not yield
tiiselves to the enemy. If we had not an ex-
ample, it would be now an excellent one to es-
tablish, for the sake of our liberty, to be handed to
posterity. What war was ever like this ? Gaul

174 THE GAEL.

being- wasted and depopulated and brought to
great misery, the Cimbri at length left the coun-
try and sought other territories, but left us our
laws, customs, land, and liberty. But what would
the Romans desire ? they never make war but to
enslave eternally noble nations, and to deprive
them of their country. If you be ignorant of
what they do in distant countries, look at that
part of Gaul they have reduced to a province,
where all are reduced to labour with the axe in
perpetual servitude."

This is not the speech of an uncivilized or an
uncultivated mind ; the circumstance suggested
of feeding on human flesh, on an emergency of
the kind, may be considered rather as an exag-
gerated figure of rhetoric of this very eloquent
and illustrious patriot.

His allusion to the invasion of Gaul by the
Cimbri, or Kimbri, proves that the notion of
that people being Celts, is altogether erroneous.
Their being catted Gauls, by Appian, was from
the circumstance of their invading Italy through
Gaul, and coming from that country, they were
so denominated in ignorance of their real origin.

The account of Britain and Gaul we find in

DIODORUS SICLLUS.

Diodorus Siculus,* is a valuable addition to the
statements of Ceesar, and supplies much addi-
tional information, as to the received opinions of
his day. He was not, indeed, like Caesar, an eye
witness of the facts he related, but still he is de-
serving 1 of consideration and respect, especially
when he speaks positively and appears to have
no doubts, on his own mind, of the accuracy of
his statements. There are some points, which he
gives as vague reports, which should be so re-
ceived with cautious doubt, or rejected altogether.
In many instances his information was defective,
for he states that the Danube empties itself into
the ocean ; he, however, no doubt, gave what
he believed to be true, and in many instances, is
corrobated by other authorities.

" As we have treated about the African ocean,
and the islands therein, we will now turn our
attention to Europe. There are many islands,
lying in the ocean, opposite to Gaul, near the
Hyrcynian oak forests, which we understand,
are the largest in Europe ; one of which, and
the most extensive of them, is called Bri-
tain ; she formerly was unassailed by foreign

* Lib. v. 21.

THE GAEL.

power, (for neither Bacchus, nor Hercules, or
any other of those heroes, or potentates, with
whom we are familiar, waged war with her.) But
Caius Csesar, who, on account of his actions, was
called the godlike, in our times, was the first who
reduced the island, and compelled the Britons to
pay tribute. But we shall write about these mat-
ters, more minutely, in their proper order. At
present we will speak a little concerning the is-
land itself, and also about the tin which the
mines there produce.

" The island has a triangular form, like Sicily,
with unequal sides. Stretching itself obliquely
towards Europe, there is a promontory next
to the continent, which they call Kent, which
is said to be about a hundred furlongs from
Gaul ; and the sea makes also another, called
Belerium, said to be four days sail from the con-
tinent. The smallest side which is turned towards
Europe, is seven thousand five hundred furlongs
in length.

" Those who dwell at the promontory of Bri-
tain, called Belerium, are extremely hospitable,
and, on account of the intercourse of merchants,
more polished in their habits of life ; these pre-
pare tin, worked with much ingenuity out of the

DIODORUS SICULUS. 177

earth, where it is produced, which, being sto-
ney, has veins in it, from which they work the
ore, and having purified it by washing, and
smelted it, and formed it into small pieces, they
bring it to an adjoining island named Ictis ;
to which, at the reflux of the tide, the inter-
mediate ground being dried up, they carry it
over, on small carts, in great quantities. Thence
the merchants, purchasing it from the inha-
bitants, carry it over into Gaul ; and, making
a pedestrian route through that country, for
thirty days, placing their baggage on horses,
carry it to the mouths of the Rhone ; but we
have said sufficient for the present about the
tin."

" Having now treated of the islands, lying
towards the west, we think it would be right
to say something, briefly, of the neighbouring
nations of Europe, which we have glanced at in
our former writings.

" The winter season in Gaul, is continued
clouds, which send down, instead of rain, snow and
abundance of large crystalized pieces of ice ;
wherefore the rivers are congealed, and form a
kind of bridge by the peculiarity of its nature ;
so that not only may flocks and passengers walk

N

178 THE GAEL.

across, but even thousands of soldiers, with their
baggage and chariots, pass over with safety.
Many large rivers take their course through
Gaul, dividing the country by the variety of
their windings. Some have their source in
extensive lakes, and others in the mountains ;
some make their discharge into the ocean, others
into our own sea. The largest which flows into
our sea, is the Rhone, springing from the
mountains of the Alps, and empties itself by five
mouths into the sea. Of those which discharge
themselves into the ocean, the Danube and Rhine
are thought the largest ; in our own times, Ceesar,
who was called the godlike, united them in a most
extraordinary manner ; and 4 having brought his
forces across, subdued the Gauls dwelling be-
yond them. There are also many other navigable
rivers in Celtica, about which it would be too te-
dious to write, but all being bound by ice, form
bridges over their courses, and lest the ice, slip-
pery by nature, might endanger those passing,
they throw straw thereon that they may have
a secure footing. On account of the excessive
coldness of the climate, there being scarce an
interval of mild temperature, the country pro-
duces neither vines nor olives. The Gauls
being in want of these fruits, make a drink from

DIODORUS SICULUS. 179

barley, which is called beer, (frflexr.) They also
dilute honey in water, and this drink is very much
used by them. When they can procure wine,
which is supplied by merchants, they drink it
to excess, and, unsatisfied with their draught,
they are carried on to inebriation, overtaken by
sleep, or seized with delirium. Wherefore, many
Italian merchants, by reason of their avarice,
turn the intemperance of the Gauls to their gain,
for, in boats by means of navigable rivers, and on
carts overland, they bring wine to them, and
carry back a valuable return. For they re-
ceive a slave for a cask of wine, the servant
being bartered for drink.

" In Gaul there is no silver, but great abun-
dance of gold,* which is procured by the people,
on account of the nature of the country, without
the fatigue and danger of mining. For the course
of the rivers being oblique, they strike against
the bottom of the mountains, and tear down great
heaps which are full of pieces of gold. The earth
which contains the gold is collected, by persons

* It is remarkable that among the articles of the precious
metals found in Ireland', there are one hundred of gold to
one of silver.

180 THE GAEL.

employed for the purpose, cut and ground, and
being washed with water, the metal is committed
to the furnace to be melted. In this manner
great quantities of gold are procured, which the
men and women wear in ornaments, for they
wear bracelets on their wrists and arms, and solid
gold collars on their necks, with beautiful rings,
and golden breast-plates. There is something
peculiar and strange to be remarked about the
people of Gaul, with regard to their temples. In
all the tempks, and the places of religious rites
throughout the country, there is much gold scat-
tered about, in honour of the Deity, which no
individual, of the country, would touch, from su-
perstition, although the Celtse are avaricious to
excess.

" When they dine, they sit on the ground,*
not on couches, and use, for a carpet, the skins of
wolves, or dogs. They are attended by young
people, both male and female, who have come
to the age of youth. Near them are the hearths
laden with plenty of fuel, whereon are cal-
drons and spits, containing entire joints of ani-

* A custom brought, no doubt, by their ancestors from

the east,

D10DORUS SICULUS. 181

mals ; the choicest parts they give to the most
distinguished ; as the poet describes Ajax when
he returned victorious from his single engagement
with Hector, * Ajax is honoured with whole
joints.' They invite strangers to their feasts, and
after supper ask them who they are. It is usual
for those who meet to have contention of words,
and, on provocation, to decide the matter by sin-
gle combat, esteeming death as a mere trifle, for
the opinion of Pythagoras prevails with them;
viz. that the souls of men are immortal, and,
after a term of years, enter another body and live
again. Therefore, at the funeral of the deceased
they throw letters written by his kindred on the
pile, in expectation that they will be read by the
dead. In their expeditions and battles, they use
a two-horse chariot, which holds a charioteer and
combatant. In battle they first attack their ene-
my with the spear, then descend from the chariot
to the conflict of the sword ; but there are some
among them who so much despise death, that they
rush naked to the battle, and are only bound with
a girdle. They bring their free-servants with
them, chosen from the poorest, whom they use in
war, as drivers of their chariots, and as satellites.
They very often run before the army, marshalled
in order, and provoke the bravest of their adver-

THE GAEL.

saries to single combat, shaking their arms to
terrify the enemy.

" They wear remarkable clothes ; coats of va-
rious colours, as if interspered with flowers, and
caligasses, which they call breeches ;* they fasten
their coat of reeds , which is heavy in winter and
light in summer, with clasps. They use a shield,
which is of the length of a man, variegated
with peculiar emblems. Some have images of
brass projecting from them, made as well for
defence as ornament ; besides, they fortify their
heads with helmets, on which are great projec-
tions, according to the fancy of the warrior ; for,
to some, horns are affixed, others have the heads
of birds or quadrupeds expressed on them. They
also use a strange kind of horn, which they blow,
and thence send forth a horrible but suitable
blast.j" They wear iron breast-plates. Others
are contented with the defences nature has given,
and rush to battle naked. They carry ob-
long spathas, or flat swords, hanging obliquely
down their right thigh, from iron or brazen chains.
Some secure their tunics with golden or silver

* Braccatce.

f Immense brazen horns, or trumpets, are frequently found
in Ireland, sometimes five or six feet long.

jDIODORUS S1CULUS. 183

belts ; their spears are borne before them, these
are called lances,* and their point of iron is about
a foot long. Their swords are not smaller than
javelins of other nations ; but their javelin has a
point larger than the swords of others, part of
which is worked in a direct form, and part with
a curve, so that they may not only cut, in the
blow, but also break, the flesh ; that, in the
drawing out, they may lacerate the wound.

" They are handsome in their appearances, but
their voice is hollow and disagreeable. In their
conversation they are brief and enigmatical, and
generally adopt mere allusion. They speak
extravagantly when setting forth their own me-
rit, but with contempt in regard to that of others.
They are imperious, vain, and fond of exagger-
ation, but of acute understanding, and apt to
learn. They have lyric poets among them,
whom they call bards, who play on an instrument
not unlike the lyre. Some they extol, others
they defame. They have also philosophers and
theologians, whom they denominate Druids, and
these are held in great veneration. Soothsayers
are in great repute among them, who, from aus-
pices, and the intestines of victims, foretell the

a spear,

184< THE GAEL.

future, and to them the people are obedient*
When there is any thing of moment to con-
sult upon, they adopt a most extraordinary and
incredible rite, viz : they immolate a human
being-, striking him under the breast, in the lungs,
with a sword ; and when he falls they divine what
will come to pass, by the manner in which he
dies, and by the convulsion of his limbs, and also
by the stream of blood. And this method has
obtained credit among them, by observation,
from the earliest periods ; nor is it lawful to per-
form any sacred rite without the philosophers, for
they think, by their means, as those conscious
of the divine nature, and as having a sympathy,
offerings are to be made to the gods, and by the
means of their intercession, blessings are to be
obtained. To them, both friends and enemies, in
war as well as peace, are submissively obedient ;
they often rush between the opposing armies,
drawn out in battle array, and when their
swords are brandishing, and their spears pro-
jected, put an end to the conflict, as if subduing
wild beasts by some charm. Thus, among the
fiercest barbarians, anger yields to the voice of
wisdom, and Mars respects the Muses."

It is not necessary or expedient to enter far-
ther into the history of Celtse of Gaul, before

DIODORUS SICULUS. 185

their conquest, or at all, after their final subjuga-
tion and reduction to a Roman province, when
they became as complete Romans in language,
manners, and feeling, as the inhabitants of Italy
itself. Their own language was apparently obli-
terated, or reduced to the names of places. In
the course of several centuries they amalgamated
with their conquerors, and lost their original cha-
racter, of which scarce a vestige remained.

THE GAULS.

CHAPTER VI.

Collation of the Gaelic with the language of the People of
Gaul Of the Acquitani and other neighbouring people Of
the Rivers of Gaul Of the names of the persons of Britain
and Gaul, at the Roman period People of Britain Of the
River s t Estuaries and Promontories of Britain.

THE Irish historians state that Golamb, or
Milesius, the great leader of the Gael, in their
invasion of Ireland, and the patriarch and an-
cestor of their kings, had three sons, Heber>
Heremon, and Ir 9 from whom they trace the de-
scent of the principal families of Ireland, who
called themselves after their supposed ancestors.
O'Niell, O'Brien, O'Conor, Macmurrough, mean
descendants of Neill, Brien, Conor, and Mur-
rough, in the patriarchal manner of the He-
brews, Ben-Reuben, Levi, Judah, Benjamin,

188 THE GAEL.

&c. and the Canaanites, the Edomites, &c. &c.
Their very name of Gael, they alledge to be
derived from one of their great ancestors, who
was called Gaodhil, or <xob)l, pronounced Gael,
the son of Niul, the son of Phenius Farsa, an
ancestor of Milesius.

This will more fully appear when the Irish
history is under consideration ; but it may be
well to observe, in this place, that it is a singu-
lar and remarkable fact, that the descendants
of Heber were found seated in Gaul in Caesar's
day, under the name of Euberovices, children of
Heber ; and York, the capital of Brigantes, was
named after that tribe Eboracum, or Eberovicum,
and the O'Neill's, or Ua Nell, under the name
of Unelli. The tribe of JEed, or Hugh, under
the name of ^Edui ; and the descendants of Ir,
in that part of Britain, now called North .and
South Wales, under the name of Silures, or the
seed of Ir ; and Ordovices, children of Ir.

The following collation of the names of the
people, rivers, and places, of Gaul, and Bri-
tain, with the Gaelic, it is conceived will, in
most cases, carry with them conviction of their
accuracy, even if some may appear not so palpa-
ble and satisfactory.

PEOPLE OF GAUL. 189

PEOPLE OF CELTIC GAUL.

JEdui, or Hedui <xet>, Hugh, a man's name ;
also an eye, a man of discernment. The Hedui
were the descendants of Aed ; ua, descendants ;
, of Hugh.

Ambrones, a Helvetian tribe ; <xm, a people ;
, a height or mountain. Highlanders, people
inhabiting a mountainous country.

Arverni <x/i, tillage j f ea/tn, good farmers ;
now called Auvergne.

Aulerci <xll, great ; le<^5, plain. The peo-
ple of the flat champaign country about Chartres.
There were Aulerci Cenomani ; ce<xn, chief,
head, superior ; o, of ; m<x)n, heroes. The other
were the Aulerci Euberovices, or the descendants
of Eber, or Heber ; eBeji, Heber j bo, of ; mJc,
children.

Aulerci Brannovices the descendants of Bran.
All residing on plains in different parts of Gaul.
Aulerci ; <xll, great ; lea/tg, plain, or the inhabi-
tants of the champain country on the banks of
the Seine.

Bajocasses bagac, warlike, a soldier ; cdf or
c<ty-, a foot ; infantry, foot soldiers. The people
living about Caen, in Normandy.

Situriges Cubi baJtep, water j ^e^> plain,

190 THE GAEL.

open ; cuJbe, a spade. The wet plain country to
the South of the Loire, now called the Depart-
ment of the Cher and Indre.

Bituriges T^ibisci pepba^, beautiful. The
beautiful plains about Bourdeaux, now called the
Gironde.

Boli BouxU, watery. The wet district above
Nevers, on the Loire.

Carnutes c<x/i#, an altar ; nimJb, new or re-
cent. The place of annual meeting of the Druids
for judgment, as described by Caesar. This place
is now called Chartres. It was probably given
this name when that place was fixed by the Gael,
of Gaul, for that purpose, instead of referring
matters to the chief Druids, and Brehons, of Bri-
tain or Ireland.

Corispiti co/i, a district ; J/*, under ; beJt,
beech trees. The district of Beech. Part of
Britanny.

Curiosolites cutye, a feast, bounteous ; /-ol<x-
"c&fy provision. A rich and bounteous land.
The department of Isle and Vilaine.

Euberovices ebe/i, Heber, one of the sons of
Milesius, a patriarch of the Gauls ; bo, of ;
mJc, children or descendants. Pronounced Eber-
ovic. The descendants of Heber. Mr. Whi-
taker blunders sadly on this and other names end-
ing in Trices, which he says means a brave peo-

PEOPLE OF GAUL. 1Q1

ple 9 but he does not say in what language. He
was unacquainted with the Gaelic.

Helvetii ell, a multitude or numerous tribe j
, sinewy, strong in body.

Latobriges Dot, hoary, frosty, white, grey ;
, hills. Hills covered with snow. A people
of Switzerland.

Lemovices leom, a man's name ; o, from roJc,
children. Descendants of Leo.

Lexoviileozac, marshy. The people living
in the low country on the Seine, now called
the department of the Eure.

Lingones Un, a boundary ; g<xn, extreme. A
people residing at the extreme boundary, next the
Belgse.

Mandubri m<xo^, a hero ; bub, black 5 fyj,
a hill. The dark-haired heroes of the hill.

Meldi m<xol, a hillock, or low eminence with-
out trees ; bae, men. The country on the Marne
river in Champagne.

Nannetes n<xa, the ; aejt, warriors, or heroes
of battle. The warlike race.

Osismi u<x^, noble j nxxjc, great, illustrious.
People of the northern coast of Britanny.

Pictones, or Pictavii p)c)bac, spearmen. Peo-
ple armed with spears.

Ruteni /tuta, a tribe j J/?e, small. The little
tribe.

192 THE GAEL.

Rhedones pete, a plain ; aba/7, a river. The
plain country about Reimes on the Vilaine river.

Santones ^an, old ; tan, country ; or y-ant,
holy ; aban, river.

Sedurii /-aob, a track way ; bun, a hill. The
people residing in a mountainous country, with
bad roads. A people of Switzerland.

Segusiani ^eaga^ac, a woodsman. The peo-
ple about Lyons.

Sequani /^eanac, impetuous, furious. The
inhabitants of what is now Franche Comte.

Tulingi tuJ, a flood, or torrent ; Un^eab,
leaping, dashing down. The people of the coun-
try about the lake of Constance. The high moun-
tainous country abounding in torrents.

Tigurini teac ; a house ; guJ/iJn, spotted,
or party-coloured. Party-coloured houses, pro-
bably from the materials of which they were
built. A people of Helvetii.

Treviri tfieabaJne, a ploughman. Neighbours
of the Hedui.

Tectosages teac, a house ; bo, of ; pjJc,
plenty, people with well furnished houses.

Unelli ua, from, or derived of; nel, Neil.
The descendants of Neill. The O'Neills.

Urbigensis u/t, a valley ; fceJcac, weeping.
The people of the valley of tears.

J^eneti jran, a cliff, or declivity on a shore ;
, battle or fight.

PEOPLE OF GAUL. 193

Viducasses f <*b<xb,, kindling fire ; c<x^ or co^ ,
a foot. Foot soldiers armed with the means of
ignition.

NEIGHBOURING PEOPLE TO THE CELT^E.

9

Acquitani oJce, the sea; t<xn<\, country, or
the country on the seas. Pronounced Oiketana*
Acquitanian Gaul lies between the ocean and
the Mediterranean*

Allobroges <xll, great; fyuogoJbe, gorman-
dizer, or eater ; also a boor, or farmer. The
farmers, or great eaters. The people of Savoy
on the Rhone.

Cadurci c<vJb, stony or rocky ; oJce, water.
People who lived on a rocky river. Cahors on the
Garonne. The Cadurci Lucteri were from
luct<U;ie, a whirlpool, or gulph on the river.

Meduli mejbe, the neck ; bul, of fishermen
with nets. The neck of land between the Gar-
ronne and the sea.

Nitobriges nJob, strong, able, prosperous ;
b/iuagaJbe, farmers. People living on the Gar-
ronne in Guienne.

194- THE GAEL.

RIVERS IN GAUL.

Sequana The Seine river ; ^e<xc, frozen ;
<xban, river, or the frozen river.

Matrona The river Marne. The north fork
or branch of the Seine ; moitaJ/i, mother, cause,
i. e. chief source ; and <xban, river. Pronounced
Matraun.

Oise, Iscauna Another branch of the Seine ;
from uJ^ge, water ; <xb<xn, river ; or the smaller
river.

Liger The Loire river ; Uug<xb, slow, creep-
ing. Pronounced Luer.

Alduabis River <xl, a rock or stone ; bub,
black ; or the black rocky river.

Rhine, Rhenanus ;i)g, king or chief \ <xb<xn,
river. Pronounced Reeaun.

Rhone, Rhodanus /toJb, momentous, swift ;
<xb<xfl, river Impiger fluminum Rhodanus.
(Florus, lib. iii. c. 2.)

Garumna zafi>, boisterous, rough, rugged ;
<xb<xn. Pronounced Garaun, the rough river.

Lemanus A river and lake ; le<xm, a boat ;
<xb<xn, river. Lake, or river of boats.

Dordogne, Durianus a branch of the Gar-
ronne ; bo/ib, muttering, babbling ; <xb<xn, river.
Pronounced Dordaun.

RIVERS IN GAUL. 1Q5

Lot Branch of the Garonne ; tot, mud, or
dirty.

Tarn Ditto ; t<x/in<xc, noisy, thundering.

Vilaine Runs into the Ocean, near La Roch
Bernard ; r)[e, a port ; d.b<xn, river.

Mayenne Branch of the Sarth, and Loire ;
ma, clean, pure ; <xb<xn, river.

Creuse Branch of the Veinne ; c/ieuc, red.

Vienne Branch of the Loire ; fJonn, fair,
pale, pleasant.

Chere Ditto ; ce<Xft, red, ruddy.

Oilier Ditto ; <xt, a stone ; Dog<xb, slow.

Indre Ditto ; J^, a wave ; bu^t, water.

Yonne Branch of the Seine. This is an ab-
breviation of )^c5<x, and <xbar?. Pronounced Is-
caun.

Saone Branch of the Rhone ; px, stream ;
<xban, river. The smaller branch.

Doube Branch of Saone ; bob, a stream, or
small river.

Isere, Isara Branch of the Rhone ; ")^je,
water ; <x^t<x, a country. This is in Acquitanian

Gaul.

Durance Ditto ; bab, black ; or bu/i, water j

<xban, river.

A great number of rivers of Gaul, have the
Gaelic termination of <\b<xr>, or sLvon, or aun, a
river, as it is pronounced by the Irish, viz : Se-

196 THE GAEL.

quana, M&trona, l&henanus, Rhodanus, Duri-
anus, Vilaine, Mayenne, Vienne, Yonne, Saone,
and Durance ; the Oise, is the Isis, Uske, and
Wisk, of Britain. The foregoing- are the chief ri-
vers of Gaul ; it is not necessary to enumerate
the minor streams, quite enough is given to es-
tablish the fact, that the people who gave those
names, must have spoken the Gaelic language.
Look at North America, and it will be found that
the streams of that country are denominated
Black River, White River, Great River, Little
River. There could be no question what people
conferred those names, neither is there any as to
those of Gaul.

NAMES OF PERSONS OF BRITAIN AND GAUL.

Arviragus <tyt, tillage ; peapcaf, a husband-
man, or farmer, or tiller of the ground. Agricola.

Ambiorix <x)mbea^t<xc, mischievous. ; /i),
king.

Andragorius <xr>, one ; b/ioc<xJ/ie, evil hour.
A man born in an evil hour.

Boadicea Bu<xj, victory ; buJ^, jewel. The
darling of victory. The queen of the Iceni, who
destroyed 80,000 Romans in different battles.

Cadwallader ce<xb, a hundred ; B<xll<xboty, a
beater, or conqueror. The conqueror of a hun-
dred men, or in a hundred battles.

PERSONS OF BRITAIN AND GAUL. 197

Catacratus c<xt, a battle ; o, in ; c/ie<xt, ter-
ror. Terrible in fight. He was son of Cunobeline.

Cartismandua ecitrdJ^, a guard ; beanab.
Venutius. She kept her husband Venutius in
prison, and governed in his stead, for which she
was called Cataisbenaid, or the Keeper of Ve-
nutius. She was queen of the Brigantes.

Catamantalides c<xt<xJjJnf), I fight ; <xfltoJl,
greediness, or the hero ever anxious for fight.
He was king of the Sequani.

Cassibelaunus c<x^, a man's name ; be<xU/7,
little mouth. Cass with the little mouth.

Carvilius c<xbJ/i, a man's name ; jrJle, a poet,
or Cahir the poet. Cahir is a very common name
among the Irish.

Caracticus ca/i<ib<xc, a man of many friends,
or followers.

Cingetorix, or Cungetorix cJtr$e<to, valiant ;
/iJg, king. There were many of this name. One
king of the Treviri ; another of Kent. The name
also appears with the prefix Fier, or fecx/i, a man
in Vertingetorix.

Cunobelinus cunna, friendship ; beat, amiable,
or kindly spoken.

Cogidunus cogac, war ; bu/?, a hill, or lofty
warrior ; bu/7<xj, a host, or a host of himself in
war.

Critognatus c/ijteagflac, a terrifier. This

198 THE GAEL.

chief commanded at Alesia when it was besieged,
and advised the garrison to live on the dead bo-
dies of the slain rather than surrender.

Cunedagius cune, a hound, or cruel man ;
, hot-headed. The cruel hound.

Cuneglasius cane, a hound, or cruel man ;
grey. The brown or grey butcher.*

Dumnorix buna) j, a host, or army ; 71)5, king,
leader, king, or chief of the army ; or bun, a hill ;
n a, of the ; /iJg, king. The high-minded prince.

Galgacus jxxtgab, a champion ; or ^<xJ, a
stranger or foreigner ; catac, fighter. Fighter of
foreigners.

Immanuene JmnnanJm, I drive. A pursuer.

Lucterius toctoJ/i, a reprover, or corrector.
Lucterius of Cadurcum.

Lugotorix luj, little, or swift j /iJj, king. The
little or swift footed king.

Mandubratius mcx^bac, a stammerer ; b/KXt, a
judge. The judge with a hesitation in his speech.
He was king of the Trinobantes ; or maon, a
hero ; bub, black ; b/iac, crown of victory. The
black-haired hero crowned with victory.

Prasutagus b/taa^, a prince ; ut<xj, strife ;
or the quarrelsome prince.

* Gildas gives us this translation lailo fulve.

PERSONS OF BRITAIN AND GAUL. 199

Ogetorix oJ/tbea/ic, noble or illustrious * ? 71)5,
king. King of the Helvetii.

" Apud Helvetios longe nobillissimus et ditis-
simus fuit Orgetorix." Caesar has here given the
precise meaning as well as the sound.

Segonax ^eggoJne<xc, a hunter, or killer of
moose deer ; or /-ejgjon, a champion or war-
rior ; <xc, skirmish. The brave skirmisher.

Taximagulus t<xJce<xJmuH, firm, strong, stea-
dy. He was king of Kent.

Theomantius teonoa, dexterous, expert. He
was father of Cunobeline.

Togodumnus tog<xc, chosen ; bun, a hill. The
tanist, or chosen on the hill. The heir to the
throne. He was son of Cunobeline ; or tug,
confidence, trust ; rjo,, of the, bunaJg, host or army.

Venutius Bean<xb, blunt, easy. Pronounced
Venud, king of the Brigantes, and husband of
Cartismandua.

Vellocatus Be<xl<xc, large lipped or mouthed.

Veredoctus j:e/ieb<xc, manliness, bravery ; a
common name among the Irish. He was the Hel-
vetian ambassador to Ceesar.

Vergessilaunus fe<x/i, a man ; &a1f, expert ;
pxettxfl, a spear. A hero expert with a spear. A
commander of the Arverni.

Viridomx jreoi/i-bo-jreJc, the man of sinew ;
king of the Unelli, who lived about St. Maloes ;

200 THE GAEL.

ucx neH, or O'Neill's. This name is very common
among the Irish.

Fortigern j:o/<, above or chief; tjge/mxx, lord
or king rvpawoa. Chief of men or sovereign.
The king of Britain who invited over the Saxons,

Centigern ceafj, a head, or chief;
lord. Chief prince.

PEOPLE OF BRITAIN.

Aitrebatii The people of Middlesex, Berk-
shire, and Wiltshire ; <xt<x, a plain ; t/ie<xB<iJbe,
ploughmen, or cultivators of the soil ; or <xt/ie<x-
bac, a dweller, or inhabitant.

Brigantes The people who inhabited all
Yorkshire, except the peninsula, from the Hum-
ber to the Derwent rivers ; all Lancashire,
Cumberland, Westmorland, and Durham. The
most hilly part of England from which they had
their name ; b/iJj, a hill, or rising ground. The
capital of their country was York, or Ebor-
acum, called by the Saxons Eforwic, and by the
Normans, Everwick, which plainly denominate
the tribe of the Gael, from which they were de-
scended, to be the tribe or children of Heber . Eb-
erdovic ; el>c/i bo mte, the descendants of Heber.

PEOPLE OF BRITAIN. 201

A branch of this tribe was found in Gaul by the
name of Euberovices. (See page 17^0

Caledonii c<\UJb, hardy, frugal; baojj?, people.

Cantce The inhabitants of the Peninsulse,
formed by the Firth of Dornoch, in Sutherland-
shire. This ce<xn, ahead ; tJ/i, land, or peninsula.

Cantii The people of the county of Kent.
This is precisely the same meaning as the last
ce<xn, a head ; and tj/i, land, a peninsula. The
capital still retains the perfect Celtic name in Can-
terbury. The Saxons called it Cantirland.

Careni The north-west promontory of Su-
therland ; c<xo/i, sheep ; J/?, country. The sheep
country.

CarmonaccB The south-west promontory of
Sutherland ; cao^t, sheep ; r>eaj<xc, indented. The
indented sheep walks. This name was evidently
given by mariners from the sea ; its character is
sheep plains much indented by little bays.

Catyeuchlani, or Catileuchlani Huntingdon,
Buckingham, and Hertfordshire ; cat, a tribe, <x,
a hill ; leoj, a marsh ; lecma, a plain. A people in-
habiting a country partaking of those qualities.

Cerones c<xo/i, sheep ; <xb<xn, rivers. Argyle-
shire, the sheep country intercepted with rivers.

Coritani Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, and
Lincolnshire ; ccty, a district ; Jc, corn j le<xwa,
swampy plain ; or a swampy plain producing
corn.

THE GAEL.

Cornavii Stafford and Cheshire ; co/i, a dis-
trict ; naom, holy. Pronounced Cornav. The
country belonging to the priesthood. The holy
or consecrated country. The people of Caithness
were also called Cornavii.

Creones The south part of Rosshire. I
cannot discover the etymology of this name, un-
less it be c/i), clay j abaJ/7, rivers. The clay
country with rivers.

Damnii Sterling and Perthshire ; bam, an ox ;
n), cattle, a country of herds, or people feeding
cattle ; or bam, a tribe ; n7ab, strong, warlike.
The warlike people.

Dimetce Pembrokeshire ; bj, little ; mJbe,
neck, or promontory.

Dobuni Gloucestershire ; bob, a river or
stream ; uan, dirty, frothy. The people residing
on the dirty or frothy river Severn, the foulest
water of England.

Danmonii or Dunmonii Cornwall and De-
vonshire ; bun, a hill ; maJ/?a, of metals.

Durotriges Dorsetshire ; bu/i, water ; o, of,
upon ; t/tJab or tr/iJag, lordship or principality.
The kingdom or principality on the water.

Epidii Argyllshire ; aJWbeac, huge, great,
enormous. In allusion to the high mountains of
this district*

PEOPLE OF BRITAIN. 203

Gadeni Berwickshire, Selkirk, and Rox-
burghshire ; g<*ot, wind ; bdoJne, people. The
people who inhabit a windy country.

Gangani The inhabitants of that part of Car-
narvonshire, the extreme south-west peninsular
of North Wales. These people are not men-
tioned in Camden's Map. They were Ordo vices,
but had the name of Gangani from their position ;
<x/?, is without, or end, which repeated gan join,
means the extreme end. The people of Clare,
in Ireland, who were situated exactly similarly,
were also called Gangani, by Ptolemy. There
were Gangani at the land's end in Cornwall, in
the north point of Caithness, and also in Spain,
all precisely similarly situated.

Iceni See Simeni.

Logi Part of the Caithness ; log, a hollow,
a valley.

Mertce Part of Sutherland ^ md/it<x, oxen.
Feeders of oxen.

Novantce Wigtonshire ; no, exalted, high ;
be<\n, or ben, head-land, or promontory.

Ordovices The people of North Wales ; J/i,
one of the patriarchs of the Gael, the son of
Milesius, and brother of Heber and Heremon ;
bo, of; mJc, the plural of Mac, a son. Pro-
nounced Vic. So the Or do vie Latinized into

20!< THE GAEL.

Ordovices, were the descendants or tribe of Ir.
See Silures.

Ottadini Haddingtonshire ; <xot<xt>, cleanly ;
baoJfle, people. People of clean habits.

Parisi The south-east peninsula of Yorkshire,
now called Holderness, from the Humber to the
Derwent ; b<x/i, the sea ; Jo/-, upon.

jRegni Sussex ; jiejg, plain, open.

Selgovce Kirkudbright, Ayr, and Drumfries ;
f]ol, a tribe, or people ; gobac, prating, talking.
This definition is not so satisfactory as most of
others, it being incapable of proof.

Silures The people of South Wales ; ^Jol,
the seed ; ty, of Ir. See Ordovices. These were
the same tribe as the Ordovices, being another
way of expressing the same fact. Both were of
the tribe of Ir, and their names were Latinized
into Silures and Ordovices. They are described
as a swarthy Spanish looking people, exactly cor-
responding with their Gaelic Phenician origin.

Simeni or Iceni Suffolk and Norfolk, Cam-
bridge and Huntingdon ; flwln, a rush. A coun-
try overgrown with rushes. The Iceni were the
people who lived on the coast ; oJce, the sea ;
g<xr>, bounds.

Texali Aberdeen and Bamffshires ; te<x , a
house ; <xl, stone. People who live in stone
houses.

RIVERS IN BRITAIN.

Trinobantes Essex and Middlesex ;
powerful, commanding ; o, of ; bai), tribe, or peo-
ple.

Vacomagi Angusshire ; jr<xJce, a plain ; mag,
a field.

Venicentes Fifeshire ; p e)ne, a farmer or
ploughman, an agriculturist ; ce<u?, head-land.
The peninsula of Fife.

The names of the tribes of North Britain are,
without an exception, either expressive of their
country or their peculiar habits, and were con-
ferred on them by their neighbours, the Gael,
who navigated the coasts of the whole island long
before the Romans arrived in Britain.

RIVERS IN BRITAIN.

Abravannus <xb/i<x, dark ; <xb<x>?, river. Dark
river.

Adur Sussex ; <x, the ; bu/i, water. The water,
or small river.

Aire A branch of the Ouse, in Yorkshire ;
, a fishing weare. A river abounding in fish.

Alyn, and Aln Cheshire ; <il, a stone, and
, river. Pronounced Alaun, a stony river.

Anker Leicestershire ; <ib<xr?, river ; ce<x/t, red.
Red River. Pronounced Aunker.

206 THE GAEL.

Anan a;?, the ; aba/?, river ; the river. Pro-
nounced Anaun.

Arun- Sussex ; a/t, tillage ; aban, river. River
in a tillage country. Pronounced Araun.

j^von Gloucester, Glamorgan, Sussex, Y/ar-
wick, Devonshire, &c. c. ; aban, river. Pro-
nounced Avaun, or Aim.

Axe Isca ; oJce ; or u^e, water.

Bam Lincolnshire ; ban, white, sparkling,
waste, bad, desolate.

Barle Devon, a branch of the Exe ; ba/tU/?,
rolling.

Birt beJjit, two. A branching stream.

Blackwater Essex, called by the Romans,
Idumania ; bub, black ; arnan, river. The black
river.

Blythe Northumberland ; bUt, grinding. A
mill stream.

Boldre Hampshire ; BoJtg, a bubble. A bub-
bling stream.

Bollin Cheshire ; boJlj, a bubble ; )/?, small,
the diminution, termination. Pronounced Bol-
leen. The little bubbling stream.

Brent Middlesex ; b/teaJntrab, a fish stream.

Browney Durham ; b/ionaj, a gudgeon, or
small fish.

Brue Somerset ; b/tu, a boundary.

Cairn TVater Drumfrieshire ; ca/ir?, stoney.

RIVERS IN BRITAIN. 207

Calder Yorkshire ; c<xl, sleepy, quiet ;
water. Slow heavy stream.

Caldew Cumberland ; c<xl, sleepy ; bub, black.
The black heavy stream.

Cain Wiltshire ; callan, babbling.

Cam Cambridge ; c<xm, crooked, winding.

Camlad Shropshire ; c<xm, crooked ; Ub, water-
course.

Camel Cornwall ; c<xm, crooked ; <xl, a stone.
The winding stony river.

Cayle Somerset; caJle, narrow.

Ceirog Shropshire ; c)<x/i, black ; oJce, water.
Black water. A branch of the Dee.

Cham Gloucestershire ; c<xo)o, pleasant, de-
lightful.

Chelmer Essex ; cat, sleepy ; moJ/ib, slow.
The heavy stream.

Cleddy Pembrokeshire ; cleJc<xc, craggy,rocky.

Clwyd Flintshire, Clyde, or Clota, Lanark,
Clytha, Glanmorgan ; cluJb ; an inlet, corner,
or angle of the sea. An estuary.

Cocker -Cumberland ; coc<xtye. a drain, or
strainer.

Coin Yorkshire, Colne, Herefordshire ; coJU,
woody ; Jn, small woody river.

Conway Carnarvonshire ; co^aboi??, a conflu-
ence of rivers.

208 THE GAEL,

Cover Yorkshire ; coba/i, frothy, foamy*
Cowin Carmarthen ; euJne, a course.
Craig Lancaster,

Crag Kent, J>C/K\J, rocky.

Cree Kirkudbright, J

Dane Cheshire ; bean, colour, from its water,
or impetuous, from its rapidity.

Dart Dorvatium ; fcuji, water ; feat, tranquil.
Dee Wales, ] Dhu> ^^ bkck . Deya

Dee Aberdeen, > . .

I antient.

Dee Wigton. J

Derwent Cumberland, Derby, Northumber-
land, Yorkshire, and Kent ; bu/i, water ; bearj,
a hill or mountain.

Don Yorkshire ; ba, good ; <xBcu7, river. Good
river. Pronounced Daun.

1 bobJb, pronounced Dovy, bois-
terous, swelling ; called the
Dove- Derby, I Stucda? fcy the Romanfl<

&ovyW*le8. | from rtaajc? a little hill? or
mound, promontory.

Dwyrid Montgomeryshire ; bu/i, water; ftJbe,
mire, or muddy stream.

Eden Cumberland ; EDEN, Welsh, for a wing.
Winged river.

Elwy Flintshire, Elway, Glamorgan ; eKl, a
precipice ; buJbe. Yellow river by a precipice,

Endwall Herefordshire ; en, water ; noaol, a

RIVERS OF BRITAIN. . 209

promontory, or headland, or bald ; i. e. without
trees.

Erne Devonshire ; e<x/im<x, rustling ?

Eske Dumfrieshire. Peebles ; "J^ge, water.

Ewanny Glamorganshire ; Euain, (Welsh)
wandering.

Exe Devonshire, Isca ; ojce, water, tide.

Foulmer Nottinghamshire ; jrojtl, slow ; noo/i,
great. The slow large branch of a river.

Fowey Cornwall \ jroboJb, lively, quick, rapid.
Pronounced Fowey.

Frome Hereford and Dorsetshire j pie<xm, a
root, stream or branch.

Gade Hertfordshire ; g<xb, an osier, or withe of
sally ; the stream having those trees growing on
its bank.

Glengoner Lanarkshire ; gle^i), a valley ;
gOflab, fascinating, delightful.

Goyt Derbyshire ; ^oet, rushing, purging,
cleansing.

Greta Cumberland ; Graid, (Welsh,) vehe-
ment, rushing.

Grunny Monmouth ; gft)<xn<xc, sunny, warm,
or green ; 3/1)01/7, the sun who makes all plants
green.

Guash Lincolnshire ; 5<x^, danger, jeo-
pardy.

Gwain Pembrokeshire ; Gwaen, (Welsh).
That flows. p

210 THE GAEL.

Owili Caermarthen ; Gwili, (Welsh.) Full
of turns, of devious course.

Heyne Devon ; Heini, (Welsh,) brisk, lively ;
eJ/7, water.

Heyl Cornwall ; eal, a swan.

Humber York and Nottinghamshire ; aro, the
earth ; b<x/\, the sea ; or the inland sea. The old
Roman name was Abus, from <xb, a river, by way
of eminence, the River.

Idle Nottingham ; Jt, corn ; Jot, variety ; or
the stream which passes through a country
abounding in all kinds of corn.

Irwell Lancashire; Ja/i, west; beat, sands.
West sandy stream.

Isis Oxfordshire ; )f ca, water. A branch of
the Thames.

Isle Somerset ; J/-M, private, low, secret.

Itchen Hants ; Jt, corn ; ce<xn, cattle. A
river in a corn and cattle country.

Ivil~\ Bedford ; eJmJlt, tardy, slow. Pro-

Ivelj nounced Evil.

Ken Devonshire ; ce<xp, a head ; or ceafl,
cattle.

Kennett Berkshire ; ce<nn<xct, light, clear.

Key Wiltshire ; c<xe, a hedge.

Lachty Fifeshire ; Lach, (Welsh,) loose, flow-
ing.

Lark Suffolk, \ beog, marsh, or a marshy fenny

Lea Essex, J stream.

RIVERS OF BRITAIN.

Leen Nottinghamshire ; lean a, swampy, plain.

Lemman-Vevov, | ^ aboat; ^ riyer

Leven Lancaster, J

.Liu Glamorganshire la, little, small.

Lluchor Glamorganshire ; luc<U/i, clear,
bright, resplendent.

Lodden Wilts ; lob, muddy ; <xb<xn, river.
The muddy stream. Pronounced Loddaun.

Looe Cornwall ; lo, water.

Lowther Westmorland ; lu<xba/i, quickness,
motion.

Loyne or Lune Lancashire ; lu, little ; aBan,
river. Little river.

Lusrsr Herefordshire, 1 1 - f , ,

Vlaj, swift, rapid.

Luke J

Luce See Abravannus, Wigton.

Lynher Cornwall ; UnJb, sluggish.

Mar an Hertfordshire ; m<x^<xr>, pleasing.

Maun Nottinghamshire ; maon, silent, dumb,
mute.

Mawddach Merioneth ; ma, good ; b<xg, fish.

Mease Leicester ; me<x^<xc, fishy.

Meden Derby ; m)ab<xn, a meadow.

Medway Kent ; m)<xban, a meadow ; uab, pri-
vate, lonely.

Mersey Lancashire ; muJ/i, sea ; <xl, a swan,
or cormorant ; sea goose.

THE GAEL.

Mite Cumberland ; Mite, (Welsh,) a shallow
stream, or vessel.

Nen Northampton and Lincolnshire ; nea/?, a
wave or billow, or small stream.

Nidd Yorkshire nfo, a battle.

Okement Devon ; oJce, water ; menn, clear.

Ogmore Glamorgan ; <x/ce, water ; mo/i,
great .

Oney Herefordshire ; on<x, slow, sluggish.

Orr Kirkudbright, \ u/i, a stream running

Ore Fife, J through a valley.

Orwell Suffolk ; u/i, as above ; beat, a mouth.
The mouth of a stream running through a
valley.

Otter Devon ; <xt<x, a plain.

Ouse Northampton, Cambridge, Sussex, and
Yorkshire ; 7/~c<x, water.

Ray Oxford 1

Rea Herts, ^/ta, a running stream.

Rea Worcester, J

Reed Cumberland ; Rheed, (Welsh,) a run-
ning or continued stream.

Rib Herts, Rhiab, (Welsh), a dribble, a
small stream.

Ribble Lancaster ; Rhibiaul, (Welsh,) a drib-
bling river, called by the Romans, Setantius ; ^ <xJt,
rich ; aban, river. The rich river.

Roch -Lancaster ; ;itmb, red.

RIVERS OF BRITAIN.

Ryther or Rother Sussex; fOot, a race, or
running stream.

Rumney Gloucestershire ; /tunxxc , a slough,
boggy ground.

Severn Sabriana : ^<x, a stream ; b/ie<xr?. dirty,
muddy, filthy.

Sid Devon ; pfob, silky, silvery.

Silver Devon ; yJolBaji, fertile, fruitful.

Soar Leicester ; ^uJ/Ae, water, river.

Stoure Kent, Essex, and Dorset ; f toJ/i,
stepping stones.

Strine Stafford ; /-t/t<xn, lazy, slow, creeping.

Stroud Gloucester ; ^t/ioca, a strand.

Swale Yorkshire, yxxb<x)l, a barn, or granary,
perhaps from a corn country.

Toff- Glam organ ,

Tave Carmarthen,

, sudden, enforcing.

Taw Glamorgan,

rp r A mountain stream.

TowT )b - Thesea '

Tiefi,

Tamar Devon ; t<xm<x7/ie, the sluggard, or
slow.

Tay Perth ; c<xeb, a fall.

Tees Durham ; t)o^, tide.

Teign Devon ; teJjn, great haste, hurry,
rapid.

Teme Worcester ; teme, dark, black.

THE GAEL.

Thame Oxford ; tame, quiet, gentle, still.

Thames The junction of Thame with Isis ;
> wa ^er. Thamesis. The gentle river.

Tidi Devon ; teJb), going, flowing.

Tiny South Wales, called by the Romans,
Tucrobis, from tuat, north, and c/taob, branch.

Tone Somersetshire ; toi), a wave, a billow.

Towey Tobius ; taob^Ja^, the west.

Trent -Nottinghamshire ; t/ij, third ; e/?,
water, or stream. The third stream of the Hum-
ber.

Trwduay Caermarthen ; Trwd, (Welsh),
passing through.

Tweed, Northumberland, called Alaun ; <xl,
a trout or salmon ; atxu?, river. The salmon river.

Tyne Northumberland ; teJgn, hasty, rapid.

Verniew Montgomery ; jrea/ifl, aider tree.

Voliba Cornwall ; moving, constant stream ;
j:oUbac.

Usk Monmouth ; J^ca, water.

Wainrush Oxford ; jreJrje, a boor, or far-
mer ; puf, a wood.

Wandle pan, declivity, steepness ; bat, a
dale.

Wantsum Kent ; jran, declivity ; famap, a
spring.

Water gall Warwickshire ; fata, a field, or
plain ; guat, coal.

RIVERS OF BRITAIN. 215

Waveney Norfolk ; jraob, robber, or pirate ;
, river. The river of pirates.

Wear Durham ; fe<x/i, grass.

Welland Northampton, Rutland ; f el, strife ;
<xba>7, river. River of strife or contest.

Wensum Norfolk ; jreJae, a farmer ; /-UIDCX/I,
a spring.

Werf Warwick ; buJ/ibe, full, bloated.

Wey Surrey ; btdbe, yellow.

Wharfe Yorkshire ; butybe, full, bloated.

Wheelook Cheshire ; buJbe, yellow ; toe, lake.

Wily Wilts ; buHJb, dark, death.

Winson, or Stoke Norfolk ; buJije, rapid ;
, river.

Wisk 7^c<x, water.

Wye Hereford, Derbyshire ; bu)be.

Far-Isle of Wight,! called Gar 7 anum b 7
- Romans ; W 5 ' boi

Fare-Norfolk,

J terous; <xm<xn, river.

Yarrow Lancashire ; )<x/i, dark ; a/ia, country.
Feo Somerset ; ea, a farmer.
Yore, or Eun Yorkshire ; auriferous : o/tac,
producing gold.

ROMAN NAMES OF THE ESTUARIES OF
BRITAIN.

Boderia or Bodotria Firth of Forth. This
name is probably from the noise or roaring of the
sea : bob<xJ/ic, is a deafening, or making a noise.

THE GAEL.

Dunum Mouth of Tees ; bun, the hilly.

Gabrantuicorum Sinus portuosus : <xb<x/i, a
goat : <xB<xn, river. The river of goats. Pro-
nounced Gabraun.

Metaris The wash between Lincolnshire and
Norfolk : ro)ob<x/i, good pasture.

Tamissa, or Jamissa The mouth of the
Thames.

Portus Adurni Portsmouth : <x, the : bu/<,
water.

Cemonis Ostea Falmouth.

Sabrina Bristol Channel: px, stream, or chan-
nel : b/ie<xn, dirty, or foul.

Moricambe The estuary between Lanca-
shire and Westmorland: mc/J/ie<xc, a sailor, a
mariner : c<xno, deceit. The seaman's cheat, or
decoy, a name it well deserves.

Ituna or Solway Jt, corn : <xm<xr>, river. The
corn river.

'Belisama Mersey. This was called after the
goddess Belasamain, the queen of heaven, and led
to the Cornavii, or holy district of Cheshire and
Staffordshire.

Lemanus Portus, Hithe : le<xm, a rower :
<xm<xn, river. The boat river.

VectcB The Isle of WIGHT : jieJc, view, vision.

Venta bean, a woman : te<xc, house. Pro-
nounced Vantagh. The palace of a queen.

BRITISH CUSTOMS. 217

Venta Icenorum, the palaces of Boadicea, queen
of the Iceni. Venta Silurum. The palace or
house of the queen of the Silures.

BRITISH CUSTOMS.

Britain, at Caesar's invasion, was divided into
a great many petty states, or governments, inso-
much that the different interest of princes, was
the source of continual dissensions. An antient
author declares, (says Sammes,) without naming
him,

" That every one delighted in provoking quar-
rels, that it was their daily exercise and pleasure
to be skirmishing ; that they were continually
going out in parties, fortifying and entrenching,
many times rather cut of delight than any ne-
cessity."

Their custom of fighting in chariots, they de-
rived, no doubt, from their Phenician ancestors,
and their names for those chariots, are all Irish.

Rheda /ieJb, a plain or level ground. Some
of these chariots are armed with scythes, and
were sometimes called Covini. Lucan calls one
of them constrains covinus : now c<xom, is run-
ning together : and caomJfl, would be a few run-

218 THE GAEL.

ning together, or small chariot carrying a few
persons.

The Essedum, called by the Phenicians, Has-
sedan , was another kind of chariot of war, to
carry men quickly from one part to another. The
name is from eJ^, a band : e<xb, protection, or a
band protected by a chariot ; the drivers were
called Essedariis : Irish, ej^eboj/i, a driver of a
chariot, or one who fights in a chariot.

The Carri, is the Irish c<i/i^, a cart for carry-
ing the baggage.

The Benna, Irish, ben, a vehicle, was rather
a generic name for all carriages.

The Britons fought in bodies called Caterva,
similar to the Roman Legion, and the Macedo-
nian Phalanx : cat, is bottle, and also a body of
three hundred soldiers : and toJ/ib, is fuel or ma-
terial : coLtotyb, material for use : cece^n. a troop
of soldiers.

" Among the antient Scots, the common sol-
diers were called Catharni, or fighting bands. The
kerns of the English (Irish), the kaetrine of the
Scots lowlanders : and the Caterva of the Ro r
mans are all derived from this Celtic word."* 1

The Britons were very swift on foot. They
had a shield and a short spear, in the lower part

* Macpherson's Diss. 145.

BRITISH WEAPONS. 219

of which hung a bell, by shaking of which they
thought to affright and amaze their enemies.
They used daggers also.

It is remarkable that almost all the brazen
spear-heads, formed either in England or Ireland,
have a loop for the purpose of suspending the
bell to it, or perhaps a flag to frighten horses,
like the modern lancer.

The weapons of the Celtse were called Spat ha,
Lancea, Sparum, Cateia, Matara, or Mataris,
Thyreos and Get rum, or Cetra.

Mr. Sammes gives many curious and learned
guesses at these names ; the Spatha, he sup-
poses to be a two-edged sword, under the Spanish
E Spatha, &c. but I think incorrectly ; ^p<xb<x)m,
is, / knock down. Therefore the /~p<xba was pro-
bably a club, or mace of war.

Gessum or Gcesum, was a dart which required
address to use, by the cavalry ; gxxJ^cJb, is a war-
rior on horseback, a cavalier ; <xJ/-ge, valour ;
5<x)f, craft, cunning, generalship.*

Lancea Irish, Uflf-oiJbe, a pikeman. Pro-
nounced Lancea.

* Galli per dumos aderant

Duo quisque alpina coruscant,
Gaesa manu, scutis protecii corpora longis."

Virgil JEmid, viii. v. 660.

THE GAEL.

Sparum ^pafi/'iaJm, I drive, or thrust, or
pierce, probably a long spear.

Cateia " All the commentators from old Ser-
vius, and together with them, all the compilers
of Dictionaries, have mistaken the meaning of
that word. Cateia is undoubtedly of Celtic ori-
ginal, and in the Gaelic dialect of that tongue,
means a fiery dart." Macphersoji } s Diss. 853.

r, a dart ; te<x/-, fire.

Matara The Gaelic rcJobog, is a knife, or
Mf

dagger.

Thyreos Was a weapon with teeth like a

saw ; t<x)neorj, is a saw. QeuMja* &w*>

*

Cetrum The Gaelic cajt^eJm, is fame, vic-
tory, triumph. It is probable this weapon received
its name from having been , found an effectual
weapon.

The foregoing collations are conceived to be
sufficient to establish the identity of the Britons,
Gauls, and Irish, as people of the same origin,
and with the former chapters establish them as the
genuine Celtse, and that people as a Phenician
colony.

THE CELTffi.

CHAPTER VII.

The Gods of the Gauls and Britons, the same Druids
Baals fire Moloch Taramis Teutates Camulus Baal
Beal Belsamen Belatucadrus Moguntus Apollo Gra-
nius Minerva Belasama Ardoena Diana Onvana
Caer Paladur Adraste Draoiste Venus Divona Welt
worship Barn breac, what ? Rev. Charles O' Conor.

CJESAR, Diodorus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and all
other writers agree, that the Gauls and Britons
had the same deities^ and worship, and that their
superstitions and religious ceremonies, were the
same. The former declares, also, the Druids
of Britain were the most eminent and learned,
and, on that account, were, of course, referred to
as authorities on all difficult questions. In fact,
the focus of learning, the primacy of the reli-
gion and philosophy of Druidism, was in the Bri-
tish islands : thither the youth of Gaul were sent

THE GAEL.

for education, as the -seat of learning and
science.

In speaking of the religion of the Gauls and
Britons, Mr. Sammes says : " This consent of
both nations, in the uniformity of worship, does
not argue them to be of the same original,
but is to be attributed to Druid interest, who,
nevertheless, kept up their authority and inter-
est on all hands."

The religion of idolatry was not of a prose-
lytizing nature, or likely to be changed, by any
people, for another of the same cast of cha-
racter: a nation often fancied a god, whose name
was different, but whose attributes were similar
to their own, to be the same, and therefore
adopted him. There is but one species of evi-
dence, of identity of origin more cogent than
identity of superstition and objects of wor-
ship, and that is identity of language, for no-
thing is more difficult to eradicate in a people
than religious impressions, and the objects of
religious veneration ; customs of religious ob-
servation of places, times, and seasons, continue
long after the recollection of the objects of
their institution are passed away. Thus we
see in Ireland, at this day, fires lighted up on

RELIGION OF THE CELT^E.

the eve of the summer solstice, and the equinoxes
to the Phenician god, Baal, and even called
Baal's jfire, be<xttJnne, though the object of vene-
ration be forgotten, and is now transferred from
Baal to St. John the Baptist.

Moloch had seven chapels in his temples, and
Persian temples of the sun seven gates. The
Irish Baal and Moloch had the same mystical
number of chapels in their temples, which, on
the introduction of Christianity, were appro-
priated to the uses of the new religion ; and
seven churches are still to be found in many
parts of Ireland congregated together, as at Glen-
dalogh, Clonmacnoise, &c. &c, which places are
designated generally by that name, and more fre-
quently called Seven Churches than Glendalogh
or Clonmacnoise. This number of churches in one
place, could only have been caused by its mystical
number, not by the wants of religious worship.

Mr. Sammes says : c< The Gods of the Gauls,
as Apollo, Minerva, Jupiter, Mars, Minerva, &c.
were Greek gods> and idolized by the Briton with
the same ceremonies as in Greece, and had the
same offices ascribed to them : it is manifest they
were introduced by the Druids, and worshipped
in Britain, before Gaul, and from thence translated

THE GAEL.

into that nation." I have not been able to dis-
cover that they worshipped those gods by Greek
names : they worshipped indeed gods, whose at-
tributes were similar, and to whom the Romans
gave those names, but they had their religion
from the Phenicians, not from the Greeks, who
themselves borrowed much of their theology
from the same source. After the Britons became
Romans, they added the Roman names, &s^4pollo-
Grarmus, and Minerva-Belasama, Mercurius-
Teutates, &c.

The principal deities of the Celtae were Pheni-
cian Baal, who was their favourite deity, Tara-
mis, Teutates, Hesus, Belisama, Onvana, Ad-
raste, Divona, &c. whose names and attributes
are all expressive, and to be explained in Irish
etymons.

Taramis, or Taran, from the Irish
a great noise, and totyneac, thunder. The god
of thunder, or king of the gods, called also
Moloch, by the Phenicians, and by the Irish,
rcotc,j#re, to whom the Phenicians forced their chil-
dren to pass through the fire. So did the Gauls
and Britains to Taramis, and so do the Irish
at this day ; on the fires of the Baltine, before
alluded to, the children run and jump through

GODS OF THE CELT^.

them. Taram, in Phenician, is thunder. Lucan

says :

1 Et Taramis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae.'
' For upon his altars, human sacrifices were slain.'

The Moloch of the Gauls seem to have been
a refinement on the cruelty of the Phenician ori-
ginal, for they made an image of a man of im-
mense size, in wicker-work, and having- forced
into it living human beings, surrounded it with
inflammable materials, set it on fire, and thus
burned the unhappy creatures alive.*

Teutates, in Irish is bfo, god ; 2<xJt, the Celtic
god of trade, one of the deified patriarchs of
the Gael, of whom hereafter. Livy calls him Mer-
curius Teutates ; and that Scipio, went up a
mount, sacred to Mercurius Teutates, " where-
by," says Mr. Sammes, " it appears the Britons
and Gauls cast up mounts, and dedicated them
to his honour, especially where many ways met.
He was esteemed above all gods by the Druids/'

" Mars was worshipped by the Gauls, under

* Caesar, lib. vi.

THE GAEL.

the name of Hesus, a nante of Phenician deri-
vation, that is, Hizzus, by which name the Phe-
nician, as well as British, called their god of war.
He was likewise called Camolus, signifying,
in Phenician, a lord or governor ;" in Gaelic,
cam, is mighty ; oJl, arms, or mighty in war.
Camden gives a coin of Cimobeline, with a
head, a helmet, and a spear, and C.'A.M.U.
From Camolus, the seat of government of this
prince, was called Comolodunum, or the Hill of
Camolus.

" Baal, beat ; BelnS) BeliJins, the sun. Apollo,
the god of the Chaldeans and Phenicians, was
also a chief divinity of the Celtee. In the
Laconian dialect BcXa, signifies the sun ; and in
the Cretick AjSeXioo-, as ffesy chins witnesseth,
and all from the Phenicians. AfitXioa, is Apollo.
Sometimes the Phenicians gave him a sirname,
as Philo Biblius, out of Sanconiathon evidenceth,
calling him Belsamen, the lord of the heavens."
Mr. Sammes not understanding Gaelic, was
ignorant that the Irish called this god by this
very name of be<xl pUTxxJn, which has the pre-
cise meaning in Gaelic as in Phenician the lord
of heaven.

Several altars were erected to Baal, by the

GODS OF THE CELT^E.

Romans, after their conquest of Britain, which
have been discovered at different periods; the
inscriptions on some are given by Camden, but
no correct explanation of their meaning has hi-
therto been rendered. The Gaelic language sup-
plies this defect.

On an altar-stone, dug up near Kirby Thore,
in Westmorland, is this inscription :

DEO

BELATUCAD

RO LIB. VOTU

M. FECIT

IOLUS.

Deo Belatucadro liberum Votum fecit lolus.
To the god (beat tu<xt: c<xb/ie^c) JBaal, the friend
of man. lolus made his free vow.

On a second altar, found near Irby, in Cum-
berland, is this inscription :

BELATU
CADRO
JUL. CI
VILIS
OPT
V. S. L. M.

THE GAEL.

Belatucadro (be<xl tuat c<xb/ie<xc) Julius Civilis Op-
tio votum solvit libens merito. To Baal the
friend of man, Julius Opt io, paid his free vow.

Another ;

DEO

SANCTO 6ELA
TUCADRO
AVRELIVS
DIATOVA ARA. E
X VOTO POSUIT.
LL. MM.

Deo sancto Belatucadro Aurelius Diatova aram
ex voto posuit lubens lubens merito merito. To
the holy God Baal, the friend of man, Aure-
lius Diatova, set up this altar most freely and
properly.

These appropriate and distinguished epithets,
applied to the Sim, or Baal, by the antient Bri-
tish Romans, palpably Gaelic, are unanswerable
evidences of the identity of the people of the
two islands and Gaul, which the most unwil-
ling and incredulous caviller at etymologies, can
scarcely refuse to receive as conclusive. It
* proves more, for it shows an identity of the dei-

GODS OF THE CELTSE.

ties of the Celtse and the Phenicians, for which
the reader is referred to Chapter II. Sammes
attempts to account for the meaning of atuca-
drus 9 in a most fanciful way ;' but my object is
not to criticise that learned writer, who with in-
defatigable industry collected facts from almost
all the writers of antiquity ; but wanted the key,
to explain their import, not knowing the language
spoken by the people about whom he wrote. With
his imperfect lights, however, he saw the truth of
the Phenician origin of the Celtse, although his de-
tails and conclusions were in most instances er-
roneous.

Two other inscriptions were found in the river,
near Risingham, in Northumberland. The
first :

DEO MOGUNTI. CAD
The second :

DEO MOUNO. CAD.

Both these altars were to bl<x roaJg/ie c<xb/ie<xc.
The great patron friendly God. The Pheni-
cians had a god, called Baal Magon, or Dagon,
which might be the same as this god beat
The great lord.

THE GAEL.

" In the lordship of Merchiston, near Ediribro,'
was dug up an altar-stone with an inscription
to Apollo Grannus"

Camden gives this inscription, from an ac-
curate copy by Sir Peter Young, tutor to king
James I. (VI.) as follows :

APOLLINI

GRANNO

Q. LUSIUS

SABINIANUS

PROC,

AUG

V. S. S. L. V. M.

" adding who this Apollo Grannus was, and whence
he had this name, none of the Society of Anti-
quaries, that I know of, has yet informed us, but,
if I may be allowed to interpose my inferior judg-
ment, I should suppose that Apollo, called Gran-
nus, by the Romans, was the same whom the
Greeks called ATroXXwv A/cejoae/cojurjCj or the long-
haired ; for Isidore calls the long locks of the
Goths Grannos."

Grian, is one of a great many Celtic names
of the sun, and is still the Gaelic name, and,
from his beams, /ieann<xc, signifies long-haired,

GODS OF THE CELT^E.

which is the natural epithet for the sun in all na-
tions. There is a mountain in Ireland called
flelb na g/Oan, Slieve na grian, or the mountain
of the Sun.

The following inscription to Baal, at Palmyra,
is very similar to the foregoing, and indicates the
source from which the Celtic theology was de-
rived, by the kindred epithets. Sammes says :

" In Palmyra, a city of the Phenicians, there
was this inscription, (which because it refers to
this god Belinus,) I will put down :

AFAIBHAQ KAI MAAAK BHAQ HATPQOI2 9EO12.

" To Agli Belus and Malak Belus, native
or country gods that is, as some interpret it,
to the winter and summer sun, for upon the mar-
ble upon which this inscription was found, he was
both ways represented ; but the Britons repre-
sented him with a harp, as may be seen on a coin
of Cunobelinus, and without doubt, had all the
opinions of him as the Greeks and Phenicians
had."*

On a stone found in Aquitain, was this in-
scription :

* Sammes.

THE GAEI,.

MINERVA BELISA1VLE
To Minerva the queen of heaven.

Diana, (says Poly semis,) the Gauls, most especial-
ly worshipped.* An image of Minerva was dug up
in Monmouthshire, in 1602, girt about, and short
trussed, bearing a quiver, but her head, hands,
and feet were broken off. It was found on a
pavement of tiles, in chequer-work, and an
inscription to her honour was afterwards found,
not far off. The aestuary of the Mersey, was
called by the Romans JEstuarium Belisamce,
and the river itself bore the name of Belisamum.
Her name Ardurena, or Ardoena, is <*/ib, high ;
bJon, protection. Ardoena, high, or illustrious
Diana.

Onvana, was a goddess of the Gauls, to whose
honour a temple was erected in Bath, the site of
which is now occupied by the cathedral. Mr.
Sammes and others, suppose her the same as Mi-
nerva, for no reason perhaps, but that this deity
was a female, which the name literally means :
<xn, the ban, woman, pronounced Onvan, the
goddess or female deity.

* Polyaenus, lib. viii.

GODS OF THE CELT.E. 33

The name of Bath, among- the Britons, was
Caer Palladur, and has been supposed to be as
the city of Pallas. This is erroneous ; cataJ/i
pala/~, pronounced Caer Palas, is literally the city
qf the palace or royal residence.

Andraste, is mentioned by Dio, as a goddess
of the Britons. Mr. Sammes, says : " This was
the goddess of victory, the British Amazon
Boadicea called upon after her great victories
over the Romans, having destroyed 80,000 of
them, her words were these e I yield ye thanks,
O Andraste, and being a woman, / call upon
thee, woman.'' ' This deity was undoubtedly
the Onvana of the Britons, for here Boadicea
calls upon her by that name. I call on thee, on
Ban, the woman ; buan o ambuan, was the mother
of evil. Andraste and Onvana were the same.

She was not the goddess of victory, but re-
venge, ^tnbjtoy, was a fury, or infernal deity, of
the Irish, and of course of the antient Britons.
She was supposed by many to be Venus, and for
a better reason than her sex ; Bana, pronounced
tana, a woman, sounds somewhat like Verms,
which name had certainly a Phenician or Celtic
origin, for in Gaelic, its meaning is the goddess of
beauty ; Ban, a woman ; be a/-, beautiful, pro-
nounced Vandas, or Vanas, the beautiful woman.

THE GAEL.

The name of Andraste, in its Gaelic com-
pound is worthy of remark ; an, the SfiaoJ, witch,
demon, or goddess ; also the drnidess, or magi-
cian. 3D/KXOJ^, is also sensual desire, therefore
<xnb/i<xoj;-, may mean Venus, in her attribute of
goddess of love.

The attributes of Venus Pallas, and even
Diana, may have all been attributed to Andraste,
and the similarity of name with Astarte (or As-
taroth) of the Phenicians, favours the Phenician
origin of the Celtse.

The Phenicians, according to Pausanius, wor-
shipped their Venus, armed with a spear, as the
goddess of war. The Lacedemonians also put
up her statue in armour.

" Armatam vidit Venerem Lacedemone Pallas."

Ausonius.

The Romans also had a temple to Venus Vic-
trix, at Camalodunum, or Maiden, in Essex.
Tacitus says : " The statute of Victory at Cama-
lodunum, of itself, fell down backwards, as if
it yielded to its enemies."

WELL-WORSHIP. 235

FOUNTAIN WORSHIP.

The Celtae were much addicted to the worship
of fountains and rivers, as divinities. They had
a deity called Divona, or the river god.

" Divona Celtarum lingua fons addite Divii.''

Ausonius.

, god : <xb<x/?, river. Pronounced Divaun,
or the river god.

The History of St. Patrick, which is prefixed
to the antient copy of the New Testament, com-
monly called the Book of Armagh, a MS. of
the 7th century, contains the following passage :

11 And he (St. Patrick) came to Fina maige,
which is called Slane, because it was intimated to
him that the magi honoured this fountain, and
made donations to it, as gifts to a god." " For
they sacrificed gifts to the fountain, and wor-
shipped it like a god"*

* Et venit ad Fontem Finmaige, qui dicitur Slan, quia
indicatam illi quod honorabant magi fontem et immolave-
runt dona ad ilium in donum dii."

" Quia adorabant fontem in modum dii."

Irish Antiquarian Researches Appendix xxix.

THE GAEL.

Every one who has been in the country parts
of Ireland, must have observed, either the devo-
tees on their knees at the holy wells, or the votive
rags hung- on the branches of the trees, or shrubs,
which surround it,

The writer of the " Traits and Stories of the
Irish Peasantry," gives a vivid description of a
pilgrimage to a holy well, which is certainly
not overcharged. With what obstinate perti-
nacity these antient customs are adhered to,
and how readily is the worship transferred
from Baal, to St. John the Baptist, and from
Belasama to the Virgin Mary, to whom the
old title of queen of heaven has been trans-
ferred : even the cakes which the idolatrous Jews,
in imitation of the Phenicians, made in honour
of the queen of heaven are still the most popular
cake in Ireland under the old name of ba^o fye<xc.
The barti brack, or speckled cake.

The late Rev. Charles O'Connor, in his third
letter of Columbanus, gives a very interesting
statement of Irish well-worship, in a letter ad-
dressed to his brother, the late Owen O'Con-
nor Don. He says :

/ " I have often inquired of your tenants, what

WELL-WORSHIP.

they themselves thought of their pilgrimages to the
wells of Kill-Archt, Tobbar- Brig fide, Tobbar
Muire, near Elphin,andJ/00re, near Castlereagh,
where multitudes assembled annually to celebrate
what they, in broken English, termed Patterns,
(Patron's days) : and when I pressed a very old
man, Owen Hester, to state what possible advan-
tage he expected to derive from the singular cus-
tom of frequenting in particular such wells as were
contiguous to an old blasted oak, or an upright
unhewn stone, and what the meaning was of
the yet more singular custom of sticking rags
on the branches of such trees, and spitting on
them, his answer, and the answer of the oldest
men, was, that their ancestors always did it ; that
it was a preservative against Geasa-Draoidecht,
i. e. the sorceries of Druids ; that their cattle
were preserved by it from infectious disorders ;
that the daoini maithe, i. e. the fairies, were
kept in good humour by it ; and so thoroughly
persuaded were they of the sanctity of these
Pagan practices, that they would travel bare-
headed and bare-footed from ten to twenty miles
for the purpose of crawling on their knees round
these wells, and upright stones, and oak trees,
westward, as the sun travels, some three times,
some six, some nine, and so on, in uneven num-
bers, until their voluntary penances were com-

238 THE GAEL.

pletely fulfilled. The waters of Logh- Con were
deemed so sacred from antient usage, that they
would throw into the lake whole rolls of butter,
as a preservative for the milk of their cows
against Geasa-Draoideacht !

" The same customs existed among the Irish
colonies of the Highlands and Western Islands ;
and even in some parts of the Lowlands of Scot-
land. ' I have often observed,' says Mr. Brand,
* shreds, or bits of rags, upon the bushes that
overhang a well in the road to Benton, near New-
castle, which is called the Rag-well?* Mr. Pen-
nant says, * they visit the well of 8pye, in Scot-
land, for many distempers, and the well ofDrach-
aldy^ for as many, offering small pieces of money
and bits of rags.'t

ORIGIN OF WELL-WORSHIP.

" From my earliest days, I recollect having
expressed my wonder at these customs of our
countrymen ; and our good Dr. M'Dermot, of

* Brand's Popular Antiquities. Newcastle, 1777, p. 100.

t bftAOJce, druids ; <Ult, high place ', or house. The
high place, or house of the Druids.

f Pennant's Tour in Scotland. Shaw's Hist, of Moray,
p, 177. Martin's Western Islands. Lond. 1703, p. 7, and 140.

WELL-WORSHIP. 239

Coolavin, will recollect a conversation on this
subject, in which he agreed, that they are of Phoe-
nician origin, and contribute, with many other
proofs, to demonstrate the progress of population
from the East to the West.

" * The worship of fountains,' says Stanley,
' may be traced to the Chaldeans. Besides the
three orders of Intellectuals, which Psellus styles
seven fountains, and the anonymous Summarist,
Fountainous Fathers, the latter gives an account
of many other fountains, and they reverence,
saith he, material fountains, and next after these
the principalities.'*

cc

A passage from Hanway's travels leads di-
rectly to the oriental origin of these Druidical su-
perstitions : * We arrived at a desolate Caravan-
serai, where we found nothing but water. I ob-
served a tree with a number of rags to the
branches. These were so many charms, which
passengers, coming from Ghilaw, a province re-
markable for agues, had left there, in a fond ex-
pectation of leaving their disease also in the same
spot.'t

* Stanley's Chaldaic Philos. p. 23.

f Hanway's Travels, Lond. 1753, vol. I. p. 177, and again
260.

240 THE GAEL.

From Chaldea and Persia, well-worship pass-
ed into Arabia, where the well of Zimzim,
at Mecca, was celebrated from the remotest ages,
antecedent to the days of Mahomet ^ thence into
Egypt and Lybia, celebrated for the sacred foun-
tain of Jupiter Ammon, named Fons Solis by
Pliny ; and thence into Greece, Italy, Spain, and
Ireland.* ' Of all people,' says S. Athanasius,
' the Egyptians are the most addicted to the wor-
ship of fountains, holding them as divine.t Now
the Egyptian superstitions travelled westward
from Chaldea to Egypt, and from Egypt into
Greece,:}:

" Pursuing this western course, in the track
of primeval population, we find Numa's Fons
Egerice, the Fontinalia Romana, the Aqua Fe-
rentince, and the adjoining sacred grove where
the Ferice Latince were celebrated. Now these

* Seneca says, " Magnorum fluviorum capita veneramur,
" coluntur aquarum calentium fontes, et qusedam stagna, quae
" vel opacitas, vel immensa altitude sacravit." Seneca, Ep.
41.

f S. Athanas. contra Gentes, p. 2.

{ On this progress from Egypt to Greece all the learned
are now agreed. See Eusebii Chron. p. 11, and Josephus
against Appian, 1.1. Tradidit ^gyptis Babylon, jtEgyptus
Achivis.

Liv. 1. 1, c. 49.

WELL- WORSHIP. 241

waters and grove were considered as possessed of
inherent divinity, ' cui numen etiam et divinus
cultus tributus fuit,'* and the Fontinalia of Pa-
gan Rome were celebrated, as were those of the
Irish Sceligs, about the atumnal equinox.t

" It is remarkable, that well-worshipping exists
now in no part of Italy, where it is abolished by
Christianity ; and yet that it exists amongst the
clan hua Bhascoine of Ireland, as it existed
anciently amongst the Gascons and other tribes
of Iberia, from whom the ancient Irish Hhas-
cons are undoubtedly derived. Gruter gives an
inscription, ' Vasconise in Hispania, Fonti di-

" The Greeks relate that Perseus, the most
ancient of their heroes, conquered Egypt, Ly-
bia, and the nations about Mount Atlas, which
he and Hercules only are said to have passed ;

*Cluver. Ital. 1. 2, p. 719.

f In the Pagan Calendar of Rome, the Fontinalia were
marked 4to Id. Octobr. as in the antient Fasti, published by
Fabricius. Now the Irish Scelig Fontinalia, were celebrated
on the 29th of September.

J Gruter. Inscript. vol. 1. p. xciv.

' Atlas Apex Perseo and Herculi pervius.' Solinus,
c. 24, and Schol. Vet in. Lycophr. v. 838.

THE GAEL.

that thence he carried his conquests beyond the
Pillars of Hercules into Iberia ; that he subdued
the Iberians of the provinces surrounding the
Phoenician city of Tartessus, the Tharshish of the
Scriptures ; that his wife was Asterie, the daughter
of Baal, the Astarte of Tyre, of Sidon, and of
Carthage ; that he taught mariners to steer by the
polar star, whereas before they steered very
vaguely by the Great Bear ; and that some sacred
wells in the vicinity of Carthage were from him
named the wells of Perseus.*

" The connection of this worship with the his-
torical traditions of the Pagan Irish is so evident,
and so extensive, that it affords a subject of use-
ful and pleasing discovery, as it strongly illustrates
the Mosaic account of the progress of population
from the plains of Sennaar to the western extre-
mities of Europe, and exposes, in a very forcible
manner, the futility of those ridiculous systems,
by which Bailly and the French Revolutionists
have endeavoured to account for the origin of

* Excerpta ex Diodori Libro, 40, apud Photium, in Bib-
lioth. p. 1152. Ovid. Trist. 1. 1, Eleg. 3, v. 48. Natalis
Cc^es, 1. 7, c. 18. Strabo, 1. 17, p. 1168. Diodor. 1. 1, p. 21.
Chronicon Paschale, p. 38. Herodot. 1. 6, c. 54.

WJKlL -WORSHIP. 243

man, tracing his progress from N. to S. in direct
opposition to all the histories, all the traditions,
and all the vestiges of ancient nations !

" Facciolati observes from Gruter,that in Pagan
times fountains were consecrated to Baal.* Pau-
sanias says, that at Phaerse, in Achaia, was a foun-
tain sacred to Hermes, which was called Hama,
near which were thirty large upright stones,
erected in remote ages, when, instead of images,
the Greeks adored unhewn stones.t Now, such
precisely was the religion of Pagan Ireland. To
this day, the word used for a pilgrimage by the
common Irish is Ailithre. So the Annals of the
Four JVftsters say, that ' Arthgal, son of Cathal,
king of Connaughfc, took the penitential staff, and
travelled to Hiona dia ailithre,' i. e. on his pil-
grimage.t This word Ailithre is composed of

* Gruter, n. 3, p. 37. Facciolati at the word Belenus.

f Pausan. 1. 7. p. 579.

J IV Masters 777. Bede notices this Irish word Ail,
1. 1, c. 12, where he says that the name Al-Cluitli signified
in Irish the Rock of Cluid. The ancient writer of the 7th Life
of S. Patrick says, in his 2d book, c. 38, that El-phin, pro-
perly Ail-fin, is so called from Ail, a stone, and Jin, white,
for there was anciently adored an immense stone which stood
near a limpid fountain. * Fons lucidus, & ad ejus margincm

THE GAEL.

<x)l, a great upright rock or stone, and
to go round ; and there is no name in the Irish
language for the pilgrimages of Christians to
Hiona, or to Jerusalem, or to Rome, but that
identical word Ailithre, which was used by the
Pagan Irish for a pilgrimage to the sacred stone
of the Came, or of the Tobar, the emblematical
God of the Druids.

WELL-WORSHIP OF THE IRISH SCELIGS.

"The well- worship of the Scelligs on the coast
of Kerry, in that part of Ireland which was first
invaded from Spain, is accurately described by
Smith, but without any attempt to account for its
origin, or to trace its antiquity.

" ' S. Michael's well near Ballynascellig, on the
coast of Kerry, is visited annually, every 29th of
September, by a great concourse of people, some
of whom bring their sick, blind, and lame friends
to be healed by this miraculous water.'* Now

ingens lapis. Ail enim, prisca lingua Hibernica, Saxum de-
notat. Unde Ail-Jin idem sonat quod Saxum lucidi fontis.'
In Triade, p. 134. The royal seat of the kings of Ulster was
Aileach, about three miles from Derry, nearly where the sa-
cred stone of inauguration was venerated down to the 15th
century, as in Speed's Map.

* Smith's Kerry, p. 103 and 1 13. Keating is good autho-
rity for the existence of the Scelig pilgrimages in his own

WELL WORSHIP. 245

S. Michael's festival, (September 29th,) concurs
with the autumnal equinox, and consequently,
with the autumnal sacrifices and Baal-ti7iiies of
the Druids ; and it is observable, that the largest
of the Scelig Islands off that coast, wherein are
"two sacred wells, the most celebrated, perhaps,
of all Ireland, is named Scelig Michael, or S.
Michael's Scelig 1 ; that the sacred promontory,
called the Scillean, in Greece, has been also de-
dicated to S. Michael, and is now called Cape S.
Angelo ;* and that many other craggy promonto-x

times. Eochoid, an Irish bard of the 9th century, whose
compositions, in the Irish language of that period, are pre-
served in the Marquis of Buckingham's library, says, that Ir,
the son of Mil-Espaine, one of the leaders who conducted
the Scoti from Spain to Ireland, was wrecked on this island.
Smith mentions the miraculous well of Glen-ore, in his Corke,
1. 1. p. 351. ' Over it is a large old tree, on the boughs of
which an infinite number of rags of all colours are tied.'
The same takes place at Ball., or Baal, in the county of
Mayo, where are two small chapels vaulted over the river
which runs through the town, where immense swarms of peo-
ple attend on the same day, and perform circuits on their
knees in expiation of their sins, and conclude the day with
feasting. It is said not less than 300 sheep are consumed on
these occasions. It is to be observed that this worship of
Baal is held on the day of one of his great festivals the au-
tumnal equinox ! ! ! W. B.

* Voyage Pictorcsquc do la Grccc.

THE GAEL.

ries, formerly celebrated for Druidic sacrifices of
human offerings made to the Devil, and for lus-
trations and wells of Druidic worship, have been
by the foundations of monasteries on them, dedi-
cated to S. Michael, to abolish the Pagan rites and
ideas which they recalled. Such was S. Michael's 4
Mount, near Penzance, in Cornwall, and such
S. Michael's, on the coast of Armorican Britanny,
dedicated to S. Michael, in the 6th century.

"The annals of Inisfallen, Tigernach, and the
Four Masters, agree that a monastery was founded,
in the largest of the Irish Sceligs, in honour of
S. Michael, by S. Finian, who flourished in the
6th century ; that the Danes plundered and des-
troyed that monastery, A. D. 812 ; that it ,was
rebuilt in 860 ; that Flail Mac Ceallig, was
Abbot in 885, and Blathmac, Abbot in 950.*
Subsequent Danish invasions compelled the monks
to abandon the Sceligs altogether, and remove to
the opposite coast of Kerry, where they founded
the abbey of Ballynascellig, or S. Michael's, in
the barony of Ivereach, which appears to have
been a very noble and extensive edifice of the
1 1 th century.

* See also the Anonymous Irish Annals quoted from Tri-
nity College Library, by Archdal, Monast. Hibern. p. 301,
307. Compare Colgan. Acta, p. 57, n. 2, & 129, n. 3.

WELL WORSHIP. 247

" The ruins of the monastery of Scelig Michael,
much more ancient than those of Ballynascellig,
are mentioned by Giraldus,* and are yet visible
on a flat in the centre of the island, about fifty
feet above the level of the sea. This flat consists
of about three Irish acres, and here are several
cells of stone, closed and jointed without any ce-
ment, impervious to the wind, and covered in with
circular stone arches. Here also are the two clear
fountains, where the pilgrims, who, on the 29th
of September, visited the island in great numbers,
repeated stationary prayers, preparatory to their
higher ascent.

" The island is, as Keating truly states, an im-
mense rock, composed of high and almost inac-
cessible precipices, which hang* dreadfully over
the sea ; having but one very narrow track lead-
ing to the top, and of such difficult ascent that
few are so hardy as to attempt it. The Druidic pil-
grim, however, having made his votive offering

* Topogr. Hib. Dist. 2, c. 30, where he mentions also the
sacred wells of the Scelig-Michael. It is impossible not to
feel the force of the observation, that at both the Scyllean
Promontories of Greece and Italy, as well as at the great
Scelig of Ireland, there were sacred fountains, which were
supposed to be enchanted, and were adored, and that they
all have reference to the worship of Baal:

248 THE GAEL.

at the sacred wells, proceeded to adore the sacred
stone at the summit of the most lofty precipice on
the island.

" At the height of about 150 feet above the sea,
he squeezed through a hollow chasm, resembling
the funnel of a chimney, and named the Needle's
Eye, an ascent extremely difficult even to per-
sons who proceed barefooted, though there are
holes cut into the rock for the purpose of facili-
tating the attempt. When this obstacle is sur-
mounted, a new one occurs ; for the only track
to the summit is by an horizontal flat, not above
a yard wide, which projects over the sea, and is
named in Irish, leoic <xn t>oc^a, the stone of pain.

The difficulty of clinging to this stone is very

great, even when 4he weather is calm : but when
&* ** *

there is any wind, as is commonly the case, the

danger of slipping, or of being blown off, united
with the dizziness occasioned by the immense per-
pendicular height above the level of the sea, is
such as imagination only can picture. When this
projecting rock, about twelve feet in height, is
surmounted, the remaining way to the highest peak
is less difficult. But then two stations of tremen-
dous danger remain to be performed. The first
is termed the station of the Eagle's nest, where
a stone cross was substituted by the Monks for the

WELL WORSHIP.

unhewn stone, the object of Druidic worship,
which required the previous lustrations and ablu-
tions of the sacred wells. Here, if the reader
will fancy a man perched on the summit of a
smooth slippery pinnacle, and poised in air about
450 feet above the level of the sea, beholding a
vast expanse of ocean westward, and eastward the
Kerry mountains, which he overlooks, he may
form some idea of the superstitious awe, which
such tremendous Druidic rites were calculated to
inspire ; and yet many pilgrims have proceeded
from this frightful pinnacle to the second, the
most whimsical, as well as the most dangerous
that even Druidic superstition ever suggested.
It consists of a narrow ledge of rock which pro-
jects from the pinnacle already mentioned, so as
to form with it the figure of an inverted letter
L, projecting horizontally from the very apex of
the pinnacle several feet, itself not being above
two feet broad!* This ledge projects so far, as

* Ecce ingens fragmen scopuli quod vertice summo
Desuper impendit, nullo fundamine nixum.
Decidit in fiuctus Maria undique et undique saxa
Horrisono stridore tenant, & ad sethera murmur
Erigitur, trepidatque suis Neptunus in undis.
Sed cum ssevit hyems, et venti, carcere rupto,
Immensos volvunt fiuctus ad culmina mentis, &c.

250 THE GAEL.

to enable him who would venture on it, to see the
billows at the distance of 460 feet in perpendicu-
lar, and the sea here is 90 feet deep, so that the
largest man of war may ride in safety at anchor
underneath ; and yet to this extreme end the
pilgrim proceeded astride upon this ledge, until,
quite at its utmost verge, he kissed a cross, which
some bold adventurer dared to cut into it, as an
antidote to the superstitious practices of Pagan
times \s

ORIGIN OF THESE CUSTOMS ILLUSTRATED.

" It is impossible to read these accounts without
noticing their connection with the religion of Baal.
The ce/g*s, or Scillies of Ireland, are off Cape
l?0/ws ; those of England are off Cape Beleriwm;
both stand in a western course from Cape JBele-
rium in Spain ; and both were, at a remote period,
the S. Western Sceligs, i. e. sacred Seacliffs,*
which first presented themselves to the Phoenician
discoverers of the British Islands.

* I would rather say ^C<xl, noisy U<*, rocks, from the
noise made by the sea, and the violent current, if the cir-
cumstances of the temple and the name sacrum promonto-
rium, did not favour Dr. O'Connor's definition. W. 13.

WELL WORSHIP. C 251

" In the remote ages of Phoenician commerce,
all the western and south-western promontories of
Europe were consecrated by the erection of pil-
lars, or temples, and by religious names of Celtic
and primaeval antiquity : this is expressly stated
by Strabo.* These sacred head-lands multiplied
in proportion as new discoveries were made along
the coasts, and that to such a degree, that Di-
cearchus, Eratosthenes, and others quoted by
Strabo, were at a loss to ascertain which were the
genuine original Pillars of Hercules.

" Every promontory named Scylla, or Scylleum,
in Greece and Italy, in the British and the Irish
Seas, is distinguished by temples, religious tradi-
tions, primaeval religious names, and sacred foun-
tains of the remotest antiquity. That of the
Peloponnesus was supposed to be near the en-

* His words are remarkable. He states that this was a
usual custom amongst the ancient navigators. Casaubon's
Strabo, Amsterdam, 1707, t. 1. p. 395, 1. 6, c. 257 ; and again,
p. 407, c. 265. He had already mentioned it from the works
of the antient geographers, 1. 3, p. 258, c. 170, p. 259, c. 171 ;
and he repeats it, t. 2. 1. 1 0, p. 459, p. 705 ; so that this fact
rests not upon etymology only, but on historical evidence.
The sacrum promontorium, or S. western headland of Iberia
antiqua was Cape S. Vincent. That of Ireland was Carne-
soir point, as stated by Ptolemy.

THE GAEL.

trance into hell. " Hermionse in Argise litore.
Inde brevis ad inferos descensus. Huic vicinum
est Scijlleum Promontorium,"* That of Italy,
opposite to Cape Pelorus, is well known for the
fabulous traditions of Virgil and Ovid, who only
adorned the real histories of religious rites by
poetical fancies of their own ; for on the rock of
Scylla a magnificent temple anciently stood, and
an oracle, and the sacred fountain of Circe were
adored, where mariners made votive offerings to
the Infernal Gods, long before the fables of Virgil
or Ovid were known, t

"On the introduction of Christianity, the name
and the festivals of the Druidic divinity, his hu-
man sacrifices and horrid rites were abolished,
and the worship of S. Michael Archangel was
substituted on these lofty Sceligs in their stead,
he being considered the chief of heavenly spirits,
in opposition to the Baal of the Druids.

"The connection of Druidism with the name of
Baal is well known. Ausonius, himself a Druid,
says ' Tu Baiocassis stirpe Druidum satus

* Cluver. Introd. Lond. 1711, p. 250, not. w.
f Joseph us against Appian, I. 1. c. 3, and c, 14.

WELL WORSHIP. 253

*. Beleni sacratum ducis e Templo genus.'* A
Gallic inscription published by Gruter, mentions
Fons Beleni, the fountain of Baal.f There was
also a sacred fountain in the Phoenician temple of
Gadeira.t Facciolati notices the sacred fountains
of Baal in his Dictionary, voce Belenus. The
Fountain of the Sun, in the temple of Jupiter
Ammon, owes its origin to the same Phoanician
Diwinity, for the Sun and Baal were one and
the same, Eschylus and Priscian mention the
miraculous fountain of Palicorus in Sicily, add-
ing, that perjurers were struck blind if they drank
of its waters, H and Diodorus says, that this foun-
tain and the oracle annexed to it, were of pri-
maeval antiquity.^f Travelling westward, Solinus

* Auson. Varior. Amsteled, 1671, p. 153 and 169, and
notes 4 and 10.

f Gruter. Inscr. n. 3, p. 37.

There is a celebrated holy well, or Fons Beleni, at Baal,
in the county Mayo, where pilgrimages are now made at
certain seasons of the year, and one on Croagh Patrick,
which was a holy mount before Christianity. W. B.

Plin. Hist. 1. 2. c. 97. Polybius, and Strabo.

Plin. 1. 5. Harduin's ed. p. 249, and Mela, a Spaniard,
Varior. 1. 1, c. 8. p. 43.

|| ^Eschylus apud Bochart Canaan, p. 588. 'Pandunt
damnantque nefando perjures furto, quos tacto flumine
caecant.'

f Diodor. 1. 2. Long before Diodorus Zenagoras men-
tions it, as in Macrobius who quotes him.

254 THE GAEL.

describes oih^jf sacred wells possessed of the sanxe
miraculous quality in. Sardinia, an island origi-
nally inhabited by the Phoenicians, and Philostra-
tus another at Tyancea.*

" From these historical fragments it appears that
the well-worshipping of the Irish Sceligs, inhabited
by the Clan hua Bhascoine of Southern Ireland,
was derived through their ancestors, the Vasqpns
or Biscay ans of Iberia, from the Phoenician co-
lonies who stretched along the coasts of Europe
to Ireland, as expressly stated in the Annals of
Phoenicia. J" The Scillies off Cape Belerium in
Cornwall, and the Sceligs off Cape Bolus in
Kerry, stand in the same track of Phoenician na-
vigation with Cape Belerium, near Corunna in
Spain. All these head-lands were consecrated to
Baal. The ancients notice near Corunna a lofty
Pharos, supposed to have been built by the Phoe-
nician Hercules for the use of ships steering to

* Philostr. in Vita Apollonii, 1. 1, c. 4. and Ammianus
Marcel. 1. 23. ' Est circa Tyana aqua Jovi sacra.'

f See the Phoenician Annals quoted in the the 3d century
by Festus Avienus, who mentions, from Hanno's journal, the
number of days' sail from Carthage to Ireland. Maittaire's
Corpus Poetar. Veter. Avienus de Oris.

WELL WORSHIP. %55

or from the British Islands.* And Eochoid's
Irish Bardic poems of the ninth century, which
are still extant on vellum of above 600 years,
state that the Scuit, or Scoti, proceeded from a port
in Galicia, where was a tower named Tar-
Breogan, the tower of the Brig-antes. These re-
ferences to the sacred promontories of Baal are
the more observable, when we consider, that the
Itinerary of Antoninus mentions Tangier, a Phoe-
nician town in Western Africa, which traded with
Europe by the port of Baal in Boetica, and that
Strabo and Pliny agree.i "

* Compare the ancient history of Corunna with Salmon's
Geogr. Lond. ed. 1766. Map of Spain. ^Ethicus says that
this tower was built ad Speculum Britannia. Gough de-
clares that he knows not what to make of this passage !

f Tingis abest a Bellone, Baeticas urbe, unde commeant
ssepe Mercatores, xxx millia passuum. Plin. 1. 5, c. 1. Strabo,
1. 3. I must refer once more to my Dissertation on the re-
ligion of Pagan Ireland.

The Skerries rocks of the north- west point of Anglesey
and the Skerries on the coast of the county of Dublin, are
probably a corruption of the Sceligs. W. B.

i

i/

/

< c

A-

GILDAS.

GILDAS was the last writer of the Roman pe-
riod of British history. Of the events which
occurred on the invasion of the Roman province,
by the Picts and Scots, we know very little, in-
deed scarcely any thing but the fact of their in-
roads. Gildas only hints at them ; his work was
intended to be moral and religious, rather than his-
torical, but it is valuable as the only contempo-
rary authority, on which we can depend. There
is in him so much internal evidence of veracity,
and his work is so much a picture of truth, that
it carries conviction with it. He was a pious
and excellent Christian, who lamented the mi-
series and horrors with which his country was
afflicted, and attributed them to their true cause,
the absence of religious and moral virtue, which
has in every age, and in every country, rendered
men cowardly, cruel, and contemptible, and will
ever have that effect. An entire translation of

258 THE GAEL.

the book would now have very little interest,
but that part which is historical, clearly shows
the character and feeling of Britons at the fall
of the Roman province under the Pictish and
Saxon dominion.

Polydore Virgil supposes Gil das to have lived
about A. D. 580, in the pontificate of Pelagius
II. Other accounts say he was born, A. D. 507,
but there is no certainty of the accuracy of these
opinions ; he may, and probably did flourish
much nearer the period his writings refer to, for
he speaks of the British kings, as a contemporary
would.

He was called the wise, and has ever been con-
sidered a respectable and veritable writer. His
style is querulous, involved, and somewhat
pedantic, but of that polished prolixity upon
which the Britons are said to have piqued them-
selves. In the following translation is omitted
most of the pedantic apostrophes in which he de-
lighted to indulge, but the style of his Latin,
has been rendered as literally as possible. The
greater part of his work consists of moral and
religious reflections and quotations of Holy Writ
from the Septuagint version.

GILDAS.

Leland quotes the following passage from a
life of Gildas, by an old anonymous author :

" Gildas preached every Sunday at a church
on the sea, in the region of Pebideauc, to an in-
numerable multitude of auditors, in the time of
king Trefunus.

" Gildas was always desirous to submit to the
authority of Arthur, but his brethren, the priests,
resisted the authority of that king, being un-
willing to be under his dominion. Howell, his
eldest son, an active warrior, and most famous
soldier, had not submitted to any king, not even
to Arthur.

" At the end of a year, the holy abbot Cadoc,
and the excellent and learned doctor Gildas, with
their scholars, retired, from their school, to two
islands, JRonneth and Echin. Cadoc choosing
that nearest Wales, Gildas, that adjoining Eng-
land, but pirates came and annoyed him, and he
left his island in a little ship, in the summer sea-
son, and entered Glasgow* in great grief. Melua

* It would appear that Glasgow (or Alcluyd, which was
probably the city alluded to,) was one of the last holds of

260 THE GAEL.

being at that time king. The city was afterwards
besieged by king Arthur, with a great army,
because that wicked king (Melua) had ravished
and violated Guennamar, Arthur's wife, and
carried her to Glasgow for safety, on account of
the strength of the place, it being surrounded by a
river and marshes* overgrown with reeds."t

the Roman Britons, being a very strong place, and capable
of supply from the sea. Every little commander became the
prince of the district he could controul, on the breaking up
of the general Roman government of Britain.

* Lelandi Collectanea, Vol. II. p. 368. Leland adds the
following note, " Gildas vero prcedicabat in civitati Ardmaca"
but gives no authority.

f "Ex libellulo quedam de vitae Gildae auctore veteri.
Preedicabit omni dominica die apud maritimam ecclesiam
quae stat in Pebidiauc regione, in tempore Trifuni regis in-
numerabili multitudine illo audiente,

" Gildas Arturio semper cupiebat obedire. Confratres
tamen ejus regi rebellabant prsedicto nolentes pati dominum.
Hueil major natu belliger assiduus, et miles famosissimus,
nulli regi obedivit, nee ipsi Arturio.

" Finite anni spatio, et scholaribus recedentibus a studio
S. abbas Cadocus et Gildas, doctor optimus, adierunt duas
insulas scilicet Ronneth et Echin. Cadocus intravit proxi-
miorum Gualliae, Gildas adjacentam Anglias.

" Venerunt piratse, qui adflixerunt ilium.

" Reliquit insulam, ascendit naviculam, et ingressus est
Glasconiam cum magno dolore.Meluarege regnante, in aestiva
regione. Obsessa est, itaque ab Arturio rege cumi nfinita mul-

GILDAS.

It is obvious from this account, if it can be
depended on, that Arthur was not a Roman Bri-
ton, but an invading 1 Pictish king, otherwise Gil-
das and his brethren, the British clergy, would
have had no hesitation in submitting to his
authority ; which, it appears, Gildas was anxious
to do, but the others refused ; and on his success-
ful invasion of the district they inhabited, they
chose rather to leave their monastery, or school,
than be under hi' dominion. Gildas finding
the island he had chosen for an asylum, sub-
ject to the inroads and vexations of outlaws,
who always take advantage of the weakness and
confusion consequent upon the breaking up of
established governments, was glad to avail him-
self of the asylum of the, perhaps, then only
Roman British city w 7 hich held out against the
Picts, and went to Glasgow (or Alcluyd,) which,
however, soon after submitting to Arthur, the
Roman British power was annihilated, that is
of those princes who rose into authority after
the Romans left the country.

Gildas was a priest of the British church, which

titudine, propter Guenimmar uxorem suam violatam et rap-
tarn a praedicto iniquo rege, et ibi ductam, propter refugium
inviolati loci, propter munitiones arundineti, ac fluminis et
paludis, causa tutela."

THE GAEL.

being in communion with that of Ireland,
very probably did preach at Armagh, having
sought a refuge from the miseries consequent
on the political convulsion and conquest of his
country by the Picts and Saxons.

" Britain," says Gildas, " is an island, situated
almost in the extreme limit of the globe, in the
direction of the west -(the divine balance that
weighed out the whole earth^eing poised, so that
the axis descended too much from the north,) is
800 miles in length, and 200 in width, except the
broader tracts of various promontories, which are
surrounded by the curved limits of the ocean, by
whose diffusion, if I may so speak, it is secured
and fortified by an intransmeable circle on all sides ;
and by the strait of the southern hemisphere, by
which they sail to Belgic Gaul ; by the mouth of
two noble rivers, the Thames and Severn, de-
fended, as it were, by arms ; and of other smaller
rivers, and twice ten states, and twice four, and
not a few castles, with fortified walls and houses ;
(whose tops, in menacing elevation, were con-
structed on heights, with firm materials and con-
nexion,) and also beautified 'with plains, spread
to a vast extent, and sloping hills, lying in the
arms of lovely scenes, adapted to luxuriant cul-
tivation, and mountains, most convenient for the
change of the pasture of cattle.

C5ILDAS. 263

u She (the island) with head erect, and spirit
elevated, from the time she was inhabited, rises
now ungrateful to the Deity, at other times to
the citizens, often also to the transmarine kings
and powers*

" I will be silent about the olden days of ruth-
less tyrants, who in other distant climes have
been distinguished. Porphyry, that dog of the
East, rabid against the church, to his madness
and impudent style of expression, added this say-
ing, * Britain is a province fruitful in tyrants.'

" I will attempt to 8 describe those evils only
which in the days of the Roman emperors, she
both suffered and inflicted on other states, as
much as is in my reach ; not so much from her
own annals and histories (which, if they ever had
being, cannot now be found, having been con-
sumed in the general conflagrations of the enemy ,
or carried far away in the ships of exiled citizens)
as from the accounts of those who traded to the
country, which are indeed interrupted by frequent
gaps, and cannot be sufficiently distinct. Sailing
across, the emperor gave laws to the submis-
sive island, and brought into subjection to his
edicts, a people no less faithless than weak, not so
much by fire, sword, and warlike engines, as hap-

THE GAEL.

pens to other nations, as by mere threats and
blows upon the face from the hands of the judges,
whilst they repressed their indignation within
their breasts, and offered entire obedience to him.
On whose return to Rome, by reason, as was re-
ported, of a deficiency in the military pay, and
suspecting anything but rebellion, the insidious
lioness (Boadicea,) butchered those who were
left governors to proclaim rather than enforce the
object of the Roman kingdom. When this oc-
currence was told to the senate, and they had with
great speed hastened an army to be revenged on
those treacherous young wolves ; not a military
fleet (prepared to fight heroically for their coun-
try,) not a regularly formed battalion, nor a right
wing, nor other warlike preparations are to be
observed on the coasts, but backs, instead of shields,
are presented to the pursuers, and like women,
they stretch out necks (whilst cold tremor per-
vades their bones) to the sword, and their hands
to be chained ; so that every where it is said, as
it were in proverb and reproach ' The Britons
are neither brave in war nor faithful in peace.'
Wherefore the Romans, many of those perfidious
people having been slain some sold as slaves
(that the land might not be utterly reduced to a
desert,) having left the country as it was, destitute
of wine and oil, seeking Italy, leaving some who

GILDAS.

were to command, a lash on the backs and a yoke
on the necks of the natives, to take the homage
of slaves by the mere Roman name, and lacerate
the artful nation, not so much by military force
as by the whip ; and, if the circumstance require
it, to adapt the sword to his side, as the saying
is ' vagina vacuum.' So much so that the is-
land was not looked upon to be Britain, but a
Roman province, and even what money they
had, either of brass, silver, or gold, was stamped
with the image of Ceesar.

" Which things, though they were rather coldly
received by the inhabitants, yet by some with
quick, and others with less feeling, until the perse-
cution of Dioclesian, the tyrant, which lasted nine
years ; in which the churches throughout the
world suffered oppression, and the Sacred Writ-
ings, wherever they were found, burned in the
streets, and the chosen ministers of the flock of
Christ, butchered like the innocent sheep, so
that (if it could be possible) not even* a remnant
of the Christian faith remained in any province.

"Wherefore, at length, the tyrant's severity
becoming more violent, and already breaking forth
to the desert wood ; the island having the Roman
name, but not its habits or institutions, on the

(56 THE GAEL.

contrary, rejecting' them, sent the best of its most
bitter produce to Gaul a numerous host of satel-
lites accompanying Maximius, arrayed with en-
signs of state, which he neither bore with dignity
nor legally assumed, but by the law of tyrants.

"He, with artifice rather than Valour, united
to his lawless kingdom by snares of perjury
and falsehood, contrary to the Roman system,
some of the neighbouring towns or provinces, and
stretched one of his wings towards Spain, and
the other towards Italy, fixed the seat of his in-
iquitous government among the Treviri, raged
with ungoverned fury against the state, that he
might expel the two legitimate commanders, one
from Rome, the other from a most exemplary life.

" Then Britain, reft of an armed force, the
necessaries of war, commanders, and a large
body of youth, (who accompanied the abovemen-
tioned tyrant, and never after returned) uncouth
and ignorant of the various modes of war, (galled
in the first instance by two foreign nations, both
exceeding savage, that of the Scots from the west,
and the Picts from the north), was powerless and
in groans for many a year. On account of whose
depredation and direful oppression she sent am-
bassadors to Rome with letters, and with mourn-

GILDAS. 267

fill supplication desiring a military force to protect
her, and swearing, in good faith, subjection to the
Roman empire, (if the enemy should be driven to
a distance.) To whom a legion was forthwith de-
spatched, mindful of previous misfortune, and suffi-
ciently furnished with arms ; which, brought in ships
over the ocean to our country, engaged hand
in hand with the enemy, and killing a great
number of their force, expelled all from her
boundaries, and liberated the subjugated people
from impending captivity, by a decisive over-
throw. Then commanded them to erect a wall
between the two seas, that it might, when furnish-
ed with a crowd of defenders, be a terror to the
defeated enemy, and a protection to the people ;
which, reared not so much with stones as sods,
by the ignorant common people, without a guide,
was of no service. But, when the legion was re-
turning home in great triumph and joy, the former
enemies, like devouring wolves, excited by exces-
sive hunger, with parched jaws, bounding around
the sheepfold, the shepherd not being at hand,
borne along by winged oars and lusty rowers, and
sails inflated by the winds, break through the
boundaries, commit slaughter in every direction,
mow down, trample, and run over every thing be-
fore them that was mature or in a state of growth ;
wherefore again suppliant ambassadors were sent

268 THE GAEL,

with torn robes and head covered (with a mourn-
ing hood) beseeching assistance from the Romans ;
and, as timid young, crouching under the faithful
wings of their mother, that their miserable coun-
try might not be annihilated, or tlie Roman name
which struck only in sound upon their ears, to be
lessened by the contempt of foreign nations.
And they, as much as is possible for human nature,
excited by the relation of such a tragedy, winged
like eagles, and quickened the speed of their ca-
valry over the land, and their sailors over the sea:
at first unexpected, but soon a source of terror,
pierced their swords into the necks of the enemy,
and made slaughter among them like to the fall of
leaves in autumn ; and as the mountain torrent,
swollen by the many streams of the tempest, and
in its sonorous course o'erflowing its channels,
overturned by one mighty rush the edifices before
it, so our illustrious allies quickly drove the
swarms of our enemies beyond the seas, (if. any
could escape), because they had hitherto
greedily carried an annual booty over the
sea, there being none to oppose them. Then
the Romans declared to the British provin-
cials that they could not thus often be distressed
by such laborious expeditions, and suffer the
Roman standard and their armies to be occupied
by land and sea in repulsing and chastising cow-

GILD AS. 269

ardly and wandering robbers ; but advised them,
by inuring themselves to arms, and a manly me-
thod of fighting with all their strength,
to vindicate themselves, their country, their sub-
stance, their wives, their children, and, what is
still greater than these, their liberty and life ; and
that they should not stretch out their hands, not
only unarmed, but ready to be chained, to nations
not more powerful than themselves, (unless they
were weakened by sloth and inactivity), but that,
arrayed with shields, swords, and spears, and ready
for the contest, they should forthwith build a wall
(not like the other, but a substantial one of stone)
at the public expense, .calling all inhabi-
tants to join in the common cause and to as-
sist in building from sea to sea not between
cities which had been built there in an accidental
or scattered manner. They thus delivered pre-
cepts of courage to the timorous people, and left
models for the formation of weapons, and built
towers, at short distances from each other, to com-
mand from sea to the shore of the ocean to wards the
south, where their ships were harboured, and then
bid them farewell, never more to return.

" Whereupon, suddenly, emerged from their re-
treats, numerous and savage flocks of Picts and
Scots, in the vehicles in which they were carried

270 THE GAEL.

across the Stygian valley, (like tawny swarms of
vermin from the confined cavity of their holes
under the meridian Titan and scorching heat,)
and, according to their habits, often quarrelling
among themselves unanimous only in the desire
of rapine and shedding blood covering their
fierce countenances with more hair than their
shameful parts, and those parts contiguous, with
garments. Being opposed* more boldly than
usual, they took possession only of all the
north and extreme part of the country as far as
the wall, and expelled the natives. To oppose
these encroachments a feeble force was drawn
out on the heights of their defences, unsuited and
ill-disposed by reason of their cowardly hearts,
which, by inactive service, had become enervated.
Meanwhile the exertions of these vagabonds
were unceasing, and, with hooked weapons, the
unhappy citizens were dragged off the wall and
instantly immolated. This infliction of sudden
death was really a benefit, because those, thus
destroyed, avoided, by their sudden exit, the hor-
rible impending tortures suffered by their surviv-
ing brethren and children.

" Having deserted their cities and the lofty
wall, greater evils awaited the survivors even
defeat, slaughter, flight, dispersion, and more

GILDAS. 271

than usually desperate pursuit by the enemy, and a
massacre more cruel' than ever. And as lambs
are torn by wolves, so the wretched inha-
bitants were destroyed by their enemies ; inso-
much that their habitation may be likened to that
of savage beasts. To obtain the supplies of a
short existence, and procure food, the mise-
rable citizens did not refrain from pillaging
one another ; and thus the external slaughter
was encreased by domestic strife. By this in-
cessant pillaging, the whole country was deprived
of a supply of food, except from precarious
hunting. Whereupon the wretched survivors,
sending letters to ^Etius, a man of consular
dignity, spoke in this strain ' To .ZEtius the
consul the groans of the Britons.' And after
'a few complaints they say ' The barbarians
drive us to the sea, the sea drives us back to the
barbarians. Thus two kinds of death await
us we are either butchered or drowned, nor
have we any power to oppose them'

" Meanwhile a direful famine seized on those
wandering and wretched beings, which compelled
many of them to yield themselves to these bloody
robbers, in order to receive a little nourishment
for the support of life.

" At length, for the first time, trusting not in

THE GAEL.

man, but in God, they took courage, attacked
and made havoc of the enemies, who had preyed
upon them so many years. The boldness of the
invaders was thus repressed for a time, but
not the vile propensities of our countrymen
the enemy had receded from the citizens, but
not the citizens from their crimes. For the habits of
the people were, even as at this time, to be weak
in repelling the weapons of their enemies, but
brave in civil feuds, and in enduring the burthen
of guilty men. Weak, I say, in following the
standard of peace and truth, but resolute in the
commission of wickedness and falsehood. There-
fore, these bold assailants-, the Hibernians, went
home but to make their way back again at no

distant period.

(

" The Picts, also, for the first time, remained
in the remote part of the island, but occasionally
making inroads and driving away spoil.

" In this time a direful wound, famine, was in-
flicted on the destitute people, another more
violent one silently sprouting out ; but the deso-
lation ceasing, the island overflowed with such
plenty, that no age had ever witnessed but with
all which luxury encreased. It germinated with
a powerful shoot, in as much that it might justly

GILD AS. 273

be said of that time, * never was such fornication
heard of among the nations.' And not this
vice alone, but all others to which human na-
ture is prone. Kings were anointed, not by
Almighty God, but put up by those who stood
forward as more cruel than the rest ; after a
while they were butchered by those who created
them, without examining the truth of the matter.
In the meanwhile, by the will of God, he com-
menced to purify his family ; but they, only on the
intelligence of affliction, began to amend, who
were stained so deeply with their sins, for the
winged flight of rumour penetrates the listening
ears of all.

" The enemies again approached, determined
entirely to destroy the Britons, and possess and
occupy the country themselves, from one end to
the other. Nevertheless, though they did not
succeed at that time, yet a direful pestilence
fiercely attacked these foolish people, which de-
stroyed so great a number, that the living could
scarcely bury the dead.

" A counsel was then held, to consider what
would be the most effectual means of repel-
ling the terrific and repeated irruptions and
plunderings of the afore-named nations, the

THE GAEL.

Picts and Scots. The council, with their haughty
tyrant, Vortigern, were puzzled, but, at length, they
found a guard, or rather destruction of the country ;
the nefarious Saxons, of detestable name, hated
alike by God and man, were invited and admitted,
as wolves to a sheepfold, into the island, for the
purpose of checking the northern nations ; than
which nothing could be more bitter or pernicious
in its effect. Thus a band of devils, breaking
forth from the den of the barbarian lioness, in
three cyulis,* as they were called in their lan-
guage, in ours, long ships, with prosperous sail,
omens, and auguries, (in which it was declared
by the prophets, to them, with certain foresight,
that they would govern the country for three
hundred years, but that for one hundred and fifty,
that is half the time, would repeatedly lay it
waste.) Thrown at first on the eastern part of
the island, under the command of the inauspi-
cious tyrant, fixed their terrific talons, as if about
to defend the country, but most assuredly to
fight against it. To which the above named pre-

* Keels, long ships. " Tribus (ut lingua ejus exprimitur)
cyulis, nostra lingua, longis navibus." Such long vessels as
are used in the Danube, and are called zeilin, from their
length. In all Germany, zeile means length, not breadth.
Leibnitz, Scriptor. Brunivicen. fol. 31, not. 8.

GILD AS. 275

cursor, (finding success to have accompanied the
first band,) sends a more numerous company
of satellites and dogs, which, being carried on
rafts, is united to the base mercenaries. The
barbarians being thus introduced into the island,
as soldiers, ready to undergo extreme hardships
(as they feigned) for their gracious inviters and
hosts, required provisions to be given to them,
which, being allotted, for a long time, stop-
ped the mouths of the dogs. They also, but
not immediately, sought to have monthly tributes
allowed them, carefully colouring the occasion,
and declared unless they were more profusely sup-
plied, the Britons having broken the treaty, they
would depopulate the entire island. Nor was
there much delay before they followed their threats
with execution. For retribution and judgment
for preceding crimes, was called for from sea to
sea. The flame from the east was increased, by
their sacrilegious hands, laying waste all the
neighbouring cities and lands ; and, being once
kindled, did not rest until, by burning almost
the whole superficies of the island, it swept over
to the western ocean, with a red and greedy
flame ; so that all the colony, as if with repeated
battering rams and all the colonists and the
heads of the church together with the priests
and people were destroyed by swords shining

276 THE GAEL.

on every side, and crackling flames, most miser-
able to be seen, in the very midst of the streets,
the defences' being torn away. The stones
of towering walls, sacred altars, limbs of the
dead, covered with a crust of purple gore, might
be seen jumbled up together, as in some horrid
pressing machine. There was no sepulture of
any kind, except the ruins of houses, and the
bowels of beasts and birds of prey, or any reve-
rence for sacred souls, even if any were found
at that time worthy to be carried to the heights
of heaven by holy angels.

" Some of the wretched survivors taken on
the mountains were butchered in heaps ; others,
overcome with hunger, came and gave themselves
into the hands of the enemy to be slaves for ever,
(if, indeed, they were not forthwith butchered,
which was preferable, and be worthy of deep-
felt gratitude.) Some sought foreign shores, with
a terrific lamentation ; others flying to mountains,
threatening and rugged in their aspect, to
forests, with deep vallies, and to rocks over-
hanging the sea, ventured their lives, always
with apprehension and continual fear, by still re-
maining in their country. At length, a consider-
able time having intervened and those cruel
freebooters returned to their home, the remaining

GILDAS. #77

citizens, strengthened by God, (to whom thdir
miserable countrymen united themselves from
different places armed, eagerly as bees to their
hives when a storm is impending), and at the
same time praying with earnestness (and, as it is
said, " loading the air with unnumbered pray-
ers") that they might not be utterly annihilated.
" Under the generalship of Ambrosius Aureli-
anus, a prudent man, (who, robed in purple, per-
haps was the only man of the Roman nation in
that time of collision that escaped his parents
being destroyed in the same, whose offspring now
in our times have far degenerated from their
generou^ ancestor), they took fresh courage, and,
provoking their conquerors to battle, victory
the Lord having granted it fell to them accord-
ing to their prayers. After this, at one time the
citizens, at another the enemy conquered, that
the Lord might try, in his accustomed man-
ner, whether Israel loved him or not, till the

year of the battle of the Badonic mountain,
the place of my nativity, a slaughter of those
robbers took place, which was almost the last,
but not the least. The cities of my country are
not, as formerly, inhabited, but deserted and in
ruins : they present at this day a pitiable appear-
ance, although external, but not internal wars
have ceased. For that rfrevitable ruin of the

278 THE GAEL.

island, and the mention of the assistance, so unex-
pected in the memory of those who still survive
as witnesses of both miracles, for by the exertion
of this king*, public and private individuals, priests
and ecclesiastics have each preserved their rank.
But these having departed, when another age
succeeded they were ignorant of the former time,
and did not sufficiently experience the temporary
serenity. Thus all the standards of truth and
justice were broken and upturned, so that not
even, I may say, a trace or memorial of them ap-
peared in the above-mentioned classes, except in
a few, and very few, by reason of the loss of
so great a multitude, daily fell heading into
Tartarus, so small a number were left that the
venerable Mother Church, in a manner, had not
left those, reclining in her bosom, whom she
could truly esteem as true sons. For why should
we conceal that which all the nations around not
only know but reprehend ?

" Britain had kings, 'tis true, but they were
tyrants ; she had judges, but they were corrupt ;
after preying upon and oppressing the innocent,
and at the same time protecting and supporting
the suspected, the vile, and the robbers, who had
not only many wives, but mistresses of whose
enormities that tyranlf Constantine, the whelp of

GILDAS. 279

that filthy lioness, Damnonia, was guilty who,
in this year, after the solemnity of an dkth, by
which he bound himself never to act treacherously
to the people, (at first swearing by God, and then
by the attendant choir of saints, and by the
mother) in the venerable bosom of both mothers
and of the visible church under the holy abbot
Amphibalus, cruelly tore the tender sides of the
royal boys, and even the hearts of their two nurses,
between the very altars themselves ; as I have
said, with the execrable sword and spear, in the
place of teeth ; whose hands were never stretched
to arms, (which no braver at this time ever bore)
but only to God and to the altar. In the day of
judgment they will suspend the venerable banner
of their patience and faith on the portals of thy
city, oh Christ ! And this he did, not only to be
lauded, but as if it were a merit on his part. For
having put away his lawful wife, contrary to the
precepts of his master, Christ, and the prohibition
of nations, he lived for many years in continued
and varied adulteries.

" Why do you also, like to a leopard jn morals
and discoloured by iniquity, with hoary head,
sitting on a throne supported by treachery, co-
vered from head to foot with parricides, and de-
based by adultery, in vain the son of a good king,

280 THE GAEL.

( Vortiporius,* tyrant of Dimetae) raise thyself,
as Manasses of Ezechia why art thou insensibly
erect? Why do not those violent draughts of sin,
which you suck in like the best wine or rather
in which you have been enveloped why do not
these satisfy you, even now sensibly approaching
the limits of life why do you, as if aspiring to
the pinnacle of iniquity, load your already miser-
able life with an intolerable burden, by the re-
moval of your wife, and the death of her unchaste
daughter ?

" Why have you turned yourself, in the old day
of your iniquity, a despiser of God and debaser
of his appointment, oh ! Cuneglasse /j- (in the
Roman language lion -coloured butcherf)
Wherefore do you create such a contest as well
with men as God ? Eminent, indeed, among
your fellow-citizens in arms to God infinite in
wickedness wherefore have you, besides other
innumerable wickednesses, your own wife being
divorced, widowed your own near relative, who
promised eternal chastity to God, as the poets say,

* pop teoic pO/i, chief of your race. This was an
epithet applied to Vortigern, and tyrant, was tJ<X/in<X, or
lord. Lord of the Dimetae, being a Latinizing of that word.
f Thou hoary wicked hound. f Lanio Fulve.

GILDAS.

like the great tenderness of celestial nymphs (with
all veneration, or rather dullness of soul), con-
trary to the prohibition of the Apostle, declaring
that adulterers could not dwell in the heavenly
kingdom ?

" Wherefore, thou dragon of the Island, having
expelled many from the kingdom as well as
life as we have lately expressed it in our style
first in wickedness, powerful beyond others, but
also in iniquity profuse in largesses, still more
so in crimes brave in arms, but still more reso-
lute in destruction oh maglocunef* wherefore
participate in that ancient wickedness, as if you
were drunken with wine pressed out of the vine
of Sodom ? Wherefore get together, of your own
desire, such an unavoidable heap of sins, like lofty
mountains, upon your royal neck ?

" Did you not bitterly oppress, in your very
earliest years, with sword, spear, and fire, your
uncle, the king, with fierce soldiers (whose coun-
tenance in the ranks were not unlike the whelps
of a lion) ? Did you not, after the violent desire

, s on; loc^dark; cuJne, hound, or dog ; an
opprobrious name given by Gildas to Vortigern, viz. " dark
or wicked, son of a hound."

THE GAEL.

for empire had ceased, carried on by the wish to
return to the true way, determine night and day
(your conscience cutting you on account of your
sins) to become a monk, at first ruminating many
things, as it were, under your teeth, then sub-
mitting them to the multitude ; and this you
have vowed without, as you said, any kind of
treachery.

" Oh, how much joy would it be to the mother
church, (if you, an enemy of all human kind,
had not been painfully separated from her
bosom I) as much of joy and pleasure as was
your conversion to the good fruit, as well in heaven
as earth, so much now your turning to the evil,
like the sick dog to his vomit, is a matter of
grief and mourning.

* ' The first and legal marriage of your wife
(after you broke your monastic vow) is made
illicit, and the wife of another living man, and
that not of a stranger, but of a nephew, is be-
loved. Oh, how that tough neck, laden with so
many crimes with a two-fold paricidal murder,
by killing, as we have said above, your wife, who
lived with you for some time is bent, by the
towering weight of sacrilege, from the low to
the lowest.

GILDAS. 283

** Then she, by whose suggestion so many cala-
mities and crimes were perpetrated, (as the tongues
of thy flatterers exclaim, from their lips, but not
from their hearts,) being widowed from her legi-
timate bed, you connected yourself with a most
incestuous marriage.

" When the king is known to be unjust, all
under him are wicked. A just king, as the pro-
phet says, reanimates a nation. But good coun-
sels are not wanting, since you have so accom-
plished a master the preceptor of the whole of
Britain."

The foregoing is the substance of the histori-
cal matter in Gildas ; it is very interesting on
account of its early date, but it affords but little
information of facts. It, however, fully esta-
blishes that the language of the Britons was
Gaelic.

His own name is itself Gaelic, and means the
handsome or pretty pledge, gtoll, a pledge ;
bea^, pretty. A name likely to be given to a
fine or good looking child.

Cadoc, also, the name of the other British
doctor, mentioned in the life of Gildas, quoted

284 THE GAEL.

in page 259? is a Gaelic name. c<xb<xc,
friendship. Thus does every word, and every
name, accidentally mentioned by each antient
writer of credit, assist in establishing- the fact,
that the language spoken by the Britons was
Gaelic. Although that fact appears sufficiently
established by the evidence already produced, yet
it is so great a novelty, that it requires to be irre-
fragably established ; and, therefore, the support
and weight of every writer may fairly be brought
forward.

NENNIUS.

NENNIUS is said to have been abbot of Ban-
gor, and to have flourished about the year 620.
The only Latin editions I am aware of, are that
published in Gale's xv. Scriptores, (Oxford, 1691,)
and that published by C. Bertram, at Copen-
hagen, 1757. No English translation, I believe,
is extant.

Leland speaks of Nennius, as a writer of credit,
in his " Assertio Arturi. "* The preface of
Nennius, published by Gale, says :

" I drew the greater part of my information
from traditions, a part from writings, and the mo-
numents of the old British inhabitants ; a part
from the annals of the Romans, and also from

* LeU Col. Ap. 1. 20.

286 THE GAEL.

the chronicles of the holy Fathers, viz. Jerome,
Prosper, Eusebius, and the history of the Scots
and Saxons, although they were enemies ; not
as I wished, but as I could, submitting to the au-
thorities of my seniors, I have, clumsily indeed,
collected together this little history, as the glean-
ing of the ears of a more perfect harvest ; and
endeavoured to preserve it for posterity, lest that
should be trodden down entirely, arid alto-
gether lost, which still remained, notwithstanding
the incursions of foreigners into our country."*

This preface, however, is wanting in the copy

* " Vestrse sit notum charitate, quod cum rudis eram ingenio
et idiota, sermone haec pro modulo meo,non propriaenitens sci-
entiae, quae vel nulla, vel admodum rara et exilis est, Latino-
rum auribus idiomatizando tradere praesumpsi : sed partim
majorum traditionibus, partim scriptis, partim etiam monu-
mentis veterum Britanniae incolarum, partim et de annalibus
Romanoruni ; insuper, et de chronicis sanctorum Patrum,
scilicet Jeronymi, Prosperi, Eusebii ; necnon et de historiis
Scotorum, Saxonumque, licet inimicorum, non ut volui sed
ut potui, meorum obtemperans.jussionibus seniorum, unam
hanc histioriunculam undecunque collectam balbutiendo
coacervavi : et remanentes spicas actuum prseteritorum, ne
penitus calcatae deperirent, quarum ampla seges quondam
extranearum gentium infestis messoribus sparsim prserepta
est, posterorum memoriae pudibimdus mandare curavi."

NENNIUS. 287

of Nennius in Bennett's College Cambridge, and
also in most others, and, therefore, is not sup-
posed to have been written by Nennius. Mr.
Burton Conyngham, in his copy of Gale, now
in the library of the Royal Dublin Society, has
inserted this note : " Haec enim praefatio nullo
modo a Nennio compone possit utpote scripta,
A. D. 858 si numerus anni juste ponatur, et ipse
Nennius, ut omnes consentiunt, A. D. 620, flo-
ruerit." A criticism equally applicable to a great
part of the work itself.

The first article, however, called the Apology
of Nennius, the Britain, and Historian of the
British People, which was probably his produc-
tion, is as follows :

" I, Nennius, the disciple of S. Elbod, have
undertaken to write certain extracts respecting
the state of the British people, l^ltause the
learned of the island of Briton possessed no
skill, or had any record thereof in their books.
But I have accumulated and put down all that I
could find, as well from the Roman annals, as
from the writings of the Fathers, the Scots, and
English, as also from our old traditions,, which
many doctors and authors have been induced to
write ; I know not whether they have left us

288 THE GAEL.

more accounts of the frequent occurrence of pesti-
lence and mortality, or the horrible slaughter
of war. I request that every one who reads
this hook, will give me his courtesy, and make
allowance for one who ventures, after so many
more able authors, to write, rather as a talkative
bird, than as a capable critic. I give way to him
who knows more accurately the business than
myself."

There are several MS. copies of Nennius ex-
tant, two at Cambridge, and several in the British
Museum, the greater number of which are at-
tributed to Gildas. Many passages, are found in
some copies which do not occur in the others.
This is the work Polydore Vergil denounces as
the pseudo Gildas, and cautions his readers from
giving credit to.

It is dlfient from the Apology and Preface,
that Nennius collected, and inserted all the state-
ments he could find, either written or traditional,
without intending to vouch for their accuracy.
Many of his chapters, respecting the origin of the
Britons, are contradictory of each other, and few
of them* entirely correct, but still they contain
most valuable matter.

I have inserted a brief digest of the sixty-

NENNIUS. 289

five chapters, giving those more at large which
supply information of interest.

OF THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD.

CAP. i. " First age from Adam to Noah.

" Second age from Noah to Abraham.

" Third age from Abraham to David.

" Fourth age from David to Daniel.

" Fifth age from Daniel to John the Baptist.

" Sixth age from John the Baptist to the day
of judgment, when our Lord Jesus Christ shall
come to judge both the living and the dead by
fire.

" From the beginning of the world to the de-
luge, were 2242 years.

"From the deluge to Abraham, were 1442
years.

" From Abraham to Moses, 640 years.

" From Moses to David, 500 years.

" From David to Nebuchodnezzar, 569 years.

" From Adam to the carrying away to Babylon,
are computed 4779 years. From the captivity
at Babylon to Christ, 563 years. From Adam
to our Lord Jesus Christ, 5200 years. From the
passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are passed
800 years ; but 832 years from the incarnation

u

90 THE GAEL.

to the 30th year of the reign of Enaurath, king
of Moniae, or Mon, who now governs the king-
dom of Wenedocia, that is Guermet. There has,
therefore, passed from the beginning of the world
to the present year, 6108 years.

CAP. ii. " The island of Britain, which is
said to be so called from Brito, the son of Hisi-
cio, who was the son of Alan, of the family of
Japhet ; but according to others, from Brutus, a
Roman consul, is 800 miles in length, and 200
in breadth. It has 28 cities, and innumerable
promontories, and castles. It is inhabited by four
nations, Scots, Picts, Saxons, and Britons. There
are three large islands in its neighbourhood,
whereof one lies towards Armortca, and is called
Withy which the Britons call Guied or Guith.*

The second is in the middle of the sea between
4fi&

Britain and Ireland, called Eubonia y or Man.

The third is at the extreme limit of the British
World beyond the Picts, and is called Orcania.
There are many rivers, particularly two, the
Thames and Severn.t

* Quam Britones insulam Guied, vel Guith, [vocant] quod
Latine divortium dici potest ; g^Ot;, the sea, or the wind.
f Tamesis et Sabrina.

NENNIUS.

CAP. in and iv " Contain the story and
descent of Brute from ^Eneas, and his settlement
in Britain, to which island he gave his name.
The ground work of Geoffery of Monmouth's
history,

CAP. v. " After an interval of not less than
900 years, the Picts came and occupied the Or-
cades, and eventually possessed themselves of the
third part of Britain, which they at present pos-
sess.

CAP. vi. " The Scots came from Spain to Hi-
bernia. First came Bartholomeus with 1000
people, as well men as women, and increased to
4000, but a plague came upon them, and they
all perished in one week. Afterwards came
Nimech, who sailed about for a year and half,
and then reached a port in Hibernia, and
after remaining some years, returned again to
Spain.

CAP. vn. " After came three sons of a certain
Spanish soldier, with thirty ships, (chiulis,)
thirty women in each ship ; after remaining* there
upwards of a year, they saw a tower of glass in
the midst of the sea. And the men examined the
tower, and sought l to speak to those in it, but no

THE GAEL.

one answered them ; and then they with unanimous
consent agreed to attack the tower, with all their
ships and all their women, except one vessel which
had been wrecked, in which were thirty men and
as many women. And when they landed on the
shore, where the tower was, the sea rose and
drowned them all. Therefore from the thirty
men and thirty women who belonged to the ship
which had been wrecked, all Hibernia was peo-
pled as at this day.

CAP. vin. " A little after people came from
Spain, and occupied many regions. First came
Clamhoctor, and inhabited with all his people to
this day. In Britain also, Historeth, the son of
Istorinus, held Dalreida. Buile, also settled in the
island of Eubonia, with his people. The sons
of Vethan obtained the country of the Dimetse,
and spread themselves in many places, until they
were expelled from all Britain by Cuneda and
his sons.*

CAP. ix. " If any one desires to know for
how long a time Hibernia was deserted and unin-
habited, it was thus told me by the most learned
of the Scots :

* Kennedy,

NENNIUS. 293

" ' When the children of Israel passed the Red
Sea, and the Egyptians following them, were
swallowed up, as is said in the Scriptures, there
was a certain noble Scythian, with a great number
of followers in Egypt, who had been expelled
from his kingdom. He did not go to persecute
the people of God. They also were expelled
lest they should seize upon the kingdom of
Egypt. For forty-two years they wandered in
Africa, and passing by the sea to the Pillars
of Hercules, sailed into the Tyrrhene sea,
settled in Spain, and resided there many years
and increased in power, and multiplied great-
ly j and afterwards came to Hibernia, 1002 years
after the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red
Sea. They also came to Dalreida at the time
Brutus governed the Romans, that is, when they
took consuls, then tribunes of the people, then
dictators.

CAP. x. " The Britons came to Britain in the
third age of the world, but the Scythse, .that is
the Scots, in the fourth age, acquired Hibernia.
But the Scythse, who inhabited the west, and the
Picts of the north, constantly and with one accord
fought against the Britons, because they were
unused to arms. But after a long interval the
Roman monarchy extended itself over the whole
world.

294 THE GAEL.

CAP. xi. " From the first year that the Saxons
came to Britain, to the fourth year of king Mer-
vin, is computed at 429 years. From the na-
tivity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the advent of
St. Patrick to Hibernia, there are enumerated
437 years from the death of St. Patrick to that
of St. Bridget, 60 years. From the nativity of
Columkille, to the death of St. Bridget, four years.
The beginning of the reckoning by cycles of
19 years from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus
Christ to the advent of St. Patrick to Hibernia,
makes a full number of 457 years. From the ad-
vent of St. Patrick to the said island, to the cycle
of nineteen years, in which we now are, there
have been 22 cycles, that is 421 years ; and there
are three years in ogdoade to this year.

CAP. xn. " Is a repetition 'from our old
books,' of the descent of Brute from Noah.

CAP. xin. " Is a nonsensical pedigree of
Brito, Francus, Romanus, and ^4lemannus, which
he says * inveni ex traditione veterum.'

CHAPTERS xiv. to xxvi " Contain an ac-
count of the conquest of Britain, by Caesar, and
the reigns of the Emperors to Constantine, and
the conversion of Lucius, the king of Britain,
hy pope Evaristus.

NENNIUS. 295

CAP. xxvn " Three times the Roman generals
were slain by the Britons. But the latter being-
much annoyed by the barbarians, that is the Scots
and Picts, sought the assistance of the Romans,
to whom they sent ambassadors in great grief,
who entered the senate house with sand on their
heads, and carried with them great presents to the
consuls. They promised with an oath to submit
to the Roman laws, although they were hard.
The Romans came again with a large army to
their assistance, and placed generals and com-
manders in Britain, and they were under the im-
perial rule, and had Roman generals and armies
for 449 years. But the Britons, by reason of
the burthen of the imperial rule, again rebelled,
slew the Roman generals, but again petitioned
for help. Then the Romans came and plundered
the Britons of gold, silver, brass, and many
sumptuous vests, and honey, and returned in
great triumph to Rome.

CAP. xxvui. " After the war and the death
of the tyrant Maximin, Gorthigerri* reigned
in Britain, and was greatly excited by fear of the
Picts and Scots, and the vengeance of the Ro-

Vortigerri,

529(3 THE GAEL.

mans, as well as apprehensive from Ambrosius.
In the mean time three (chiulce) ships arrived
from Germany, in which were Horsa and Hengist,
brothers, who had been driven into exile. Vor-
tigern received them kindly, and gave them an
island, which in their tongue is called Taneth,
(Thanet,) but in British, Ruiihina,* in the
reign of Martian the second. It was in the year
447, after the passion of Christ, that Vortigern
received the Saxons.

CAP. xxix. " In his time, St. Germanus, bishop
of the city of Antisiodore, came and preached
the Gospel in Britain, and was distinguished by
his great virtues ; many by him were taught the
way of salvation, but many perished for defect of
faith. Some miracles which were performed
by God through him, I have determined to write.

CAP. xxx to xxxiv Contain an account of
these miracles.

CAP. xxxv. " And it happened afterwards,
that when the Saxons measured out their camps
in the aforesaid island of Taneth, the king pro-

* 3&ut<Xb, a foreland ; 1n1f, an island. Now called
the Isle of Thanet, and the North Foreland.

NENN1US. 297

mised faithfully to supply them regularly with
food and raiment, which pleased them, and they
promised they would fight gallantly against his
enemies. But these barbarians had increased to
so great a number, that the Britons were unable,
or unwilling, to feed them ; and when they de-
manded food and raiment, as had been pro-
mised, the Britons said * we are not able to give
these supplies, because your numbers are so
much increased, therefore leave us to ourselves,
we do not want your assistance/ But they took
council, and the majority were for breaking th
peace.

CAP. xxxvi. " But Hengist, who was an able
man, astute and determined, when he considered
the inert and incapable king and people, who
were unaccustomed to arms, he said to the
British king, at the next meeting, we are but a
few, and if you will send us to our country, we
will invite a larger number of our soldiers, and
bring them over to fight for you and your peo-
ple. This the king agreed to. They imme-
diately sent their messengers over the Scythian
valley (or sea),* and soon returned with seven-

* Mare. Literally the sea adjoining Scythia, which is
now Scandinavia, Jutland, Denmark, and Norway.

298 THE GAEL.

teen ships,* and many chosen warriors in them.
In one of the ships there came a very beautiful
and comely girl, who was the daughter of Hen-
gist. After their arrival, Hengist made a feast
for King Vortigern, and his knights, and his
interpreter, who was called Cerdicselmet. None
of the Britons understood the Saxon tongue
beside that Briton. Hengist commanded the
girl to serve the wine and strong drink to the
guests, who became perfectly inebriated. Thus
drinking, Satan entered into the heart of Vorti-
gpern, that he should become enamoured of the
girl, and, by his interpreter, demanded her of
her father, saying " I will give you any thing
you demand, even to half my kingdom, if you
consent to let me have your daughter in mar-
riage. 9 Hengist took council with the elders,
who came with him, from the island of Oghgul,
what he should demand ; with one consent they
said, demand the region which, in their tongue,
is called Canthguaraland^ but, in our language,

* Chiulis.

f Cantir land. The Saxon added land to the British
name Ceantir ; but tir, the last syllable, has the same mean-
ing. This Saxon appellation shews clearly that Ceantir
was the British name.

NENNIUS. 2Q9

Ghent* and he gave it them. Gnoirangona
was then the king of Kent, who alone had the
power to give away his rights, but it was un-
known that his kingdom was delivered to the
Pagans, so they gave the girl to the king in mar-
riage, and he slept with her, and loved her very
much.

" CAP. xxxvu. " Then Hengist said to the
king, I am your father, and will be a counsellor
to you ; you should never neglect my advice,
nor should you fear to be surpassed by any man,
or any people, for my soldiers are strong, and
may be depended on. I will, therefore, invite
over my sons, and your brothers-in-law, who are
brave, and will fight against the Scots, and do
you give them the country in the north, adjoin-
ing the rampart which is called the wall. And
he commanded them to be invited, and Ochta
and Abisa were sent for, with forty ships, who,
when they navigated in the neighbourhood of
the Picts, devastated the islands of the Orcades,
and occupied many countries which lie on the
Frisci sea, that is between us and the Scots, to

* ceantJft, a promontory, a headland ; the sound of
the last syllable is scarcely perceivable it is pronounced
Kent. This name has no meaning in Welsh.

300 THE GAEL.

the confines of the Picts. And Hengist invited,
by degrees, many ships, with people, to him into
Kent, so that the islands they left were deprived
of all their inhabitants, and his people daily in-
creased in number and power.

CAP. xxxvin. " And above all these evil things
of Vortigern, he took his own daughter to be his
wife, and had by her a son. But when this was
made known to Saint Germanus, he went, with
all the British clergy, to rebuke the king. And
while this great synod of the clergy and laity
were in council, the king advised his daughter to
retire to a convent, and that she should deliver
her son into the care of Germanus and she did
as she was desired. St. Germanus kindly took
the boy, saying I will be a father to you, but
not unless you obtain your father's permission for
your head to be shaved. The boy immediately
went, in obedience to the old saint's direction,
to Vortigern, his father and grandfather, and
said to him Thou art my father, may I cut off
my hair and shave my head ? But he was silent,
and did not answer the boy, but rose up, vehe-
mently irritated, and sought to avoid the face of
St. Germanus. He was then condemned, and
cursed by the blessed Germanus and all the Bri-
tish clergy.

NENNIUS. 301

CAP. xxxix to XLIV " Contain an account
of Vortigern consulting the magi about building
a palace in the mountains of Hereri (or Snow-
den), which he could not accomplish until he
found a boy without a father. After a time he
finds Ambrosius* who prophesies that the Saxons,
whom he designates as a white dragon, should
possess Britain, and dispossess the red dragon,
or the Britons, but, eventually, the latter should
drive them out of the island.

CAP. XLV. " In the mean time Vortimer, the
son of Vortigern, fought bravely against Hen-
gist and Horsa, and drove them into the isle of
Thanet, and three times defeated and dispersed
them. But they sent messengers to Germany,
calling for assistance, and an immense number
of ships, with warlike men, came to their aid
and fought against our kings ; sometimes they
conquered and extended their boundaries, some-
times they were defeated and driven away.

CAP. XL vi. " The first battle was fought on the
river Derevent. The second at the ford called,
in their language, Episford, but in ours, Satha-
negabail, (y<xt evil *n<x of the g<xb<xJl course, the
course or passage of evil or misfortune*) ; and

302 THE GAEL.

there fell Horsa, and a son of Vortigern,
whose name was Cantigern The third battle
was in a field, near the stone of title (lapidem
tituli), which stands on the shore of the
sea of Gaul, and the barbarians were conquered,
and then Vortimer was the victor, and they fled
to their ships (chiulis), and, with their women,
went away. A short time afterwards he died,
but, before he died, he desired his family, although
they inhabited another part of Britain, that
his sepulchre should be placed in the sea-port
from whence the enemy had departed. But
they did not observe the injunction he gave
them, but buried him in Lincoln. But if they
had obeyed his commands, without doubt, through
the prayers of St. Germanus, they would have
obtained whatever they wished. But the bar-
barians returned again, in great power, and be-
cause Vortigern was their friend, on his wife's
account, no one was bold enough to attempt their
expulsion. For it was not on account of their
virtue that they occupied and possessed Britain,
but the will of God ; for against the decree of
the Almighty, who would endeavour to act ? for
whatsoever he wills the Lord does he rules and
governs all men.

NENNIUS. S03

CAP. XL vii. " It happened after the death
of Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, and after the
defeat of Hengist and his troops, by a deceitful
advice Hengist exhorted them to make a great
mourning for Vortimer and his army ; and sent
ambassadors to sue for peace and perpetual amity.
On which Vortigern took council, and the Saxon
ambassadors went away. Afterwards they en-
tered into a convention that both parties, the
Britons and Saxons, should meet unarmed and
form a firm and perfect peace.

CAP. XL vin. " Hengist, the most wicked of
all his family, spoke to his Saxons as follows
( Secrete a dagger under your clothes, and when
I shall call to you in Saxon, 'NiMED EURE
SAXES,' (that is, ' draw your daggers'} each
man stab his neighbouring Briton, and do it
boldly. Spare the King alone, on account of
my daughter, for I gave her to him in marriage,
and it is better they should redeem him from
us." The council met, and the Saxons spoke
kindly, but acted like wolves. Man next
to man, Britons and Saxons, sat alternately and
socially. Hengist, as he said, gave the signal,
and, in an instant, two hundred and ninety- nine
of Vortigern's friends were murdered ; he, alone,

304- THE GAEL.

was made prisoner, and put into chains, and, for
his redemption, there was given to the Saxons,
Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex, which were thus
unlawfully separated from the kingdom.

CAP. XLIX. " St. Germanus preached and
admonished Vortigern, that he should repent and
be converted to the Lord, and should go to the
country called after him, viz. Vortigernia, and
there miserably hide himself with his women.
Whereupon he persecuted St. Germanus and all
the British clergy, who, for forty days and nights,
prayed, kneeling on a stone, and there remained
night and day. In the mean time Vortigern
went to the palace he had built and called after
his own name, viz. Dun J^ortigern, in the coun-
try of the Dimetee, near the river Teibi^ (Tavy)
to which he ignominiously retired. St. Germa-
nus followed him, and having with his clergy
fasted three days and nights ; on the fourth, about
midnight, fire fell from heaven which burned the
palace to the ground, and with it Vortigern and
all his wives. This was the end of Vortigern, as
I find mentioned in the Book of the blessed Ger-
manus. Other writers also mention it.

CAP. LII. " He had three sons, Vorti-

NENNJUS. 305

mer,* Cantigern, and Pascent, who reigned in the
regions of Buelt and J^ortigernianwn. After his
father's death, the greater part of Britain was
governed by Ambrosius. He had also a fourth
son named Faustus,t whom St. Germanus took
under his own care and baptized and taught, and
built him a great house on the banks of the river
Rhine, (Renis) which remains to this day. His
only daughter was said to be the mother of
Faustus.

CAP. LIU. "This is the genealogy of Vor-
tigern traced backwards : Firmwail, he who
now reigns in the region of Vortigernianum.
The son of T/ieudubr, who is king of Buelth,
and was son of Pascent Mac ^yguocan, Mac
Moriud, Mac Eldat, Mac Eldoe, Mac Paul, Mac
Mepric, Mac Briecat, Mac Pascent, Mac Vorti-
gern, Mac (Gworthenu) Vortimer, Mac Gui-
taul, Mac Guitolin, Mac ^/>glovi, Bonus Paulus

* Vortimer, or Vortimor ; fO/1, chief; te<Xg ; iT)0;i, house,
great. The head of the great house. Caniigern, cexXfl, head or
chief; tJjea/irKX, lord. The head, or chief lord. Pascent,

l^ea^, a purse ; cearj, head, or chief. The chief of riches,
or the purse bearer.

y ye<kf, or y)0f ; knowledge) art, science, understand*
IIHJ, vmott, message ; Jp^ft coition, incest.

X

306 THE GAEL.

Mauron. There were three brothers of Glovi
who built a great city on the banks of the Severn,
(Sabrina) which is called in the British tongue
Caer Glovi, in Saxon, Gloucester.

CAP. LIV. " The blessed Germanus, after the
death of Vortigern, returned to his own country.
St. Patrick was at this time in captivity among
the Scots, and his lord, or master, was called
Milchu, to whom he was swine-herd. In the
seventeenth year of his age, he returned from his
captivity, and, by God's blessing, became learned
in the Scriptures. Afterwards he went to Rome,
and for a long time studied the mysteries of God
and the Holy Scriptures. When he had been there
many years, Falladius was sent 'by Celestine the
Roman pontiff, to the Scots, who were converted
to Christ ; but he was prohibited by God, by cer-
tain tempests, from fulfilling his mission, because
no one can succeed unless he be sent by the Al-
mighty. So Palladius left Hibernia, and came to
Britain, and died in the country of the Picts.

CAP. LV. " Patrick being admonished by St.
Germanus and an angel, called Victor, hearing of
the death of Palladius, in the reign of Theodo-
sius and Valentinian, was sent by pope Celestine
to convert the Scots to Christianity.

NENN1US. 307

CAP. LVI. to LXI. " Germanus therefore sent
him, with an old bishop, named Seger, to Ma-
thew, a neighbouring king ; and the saint
knowing all things which should happen to him,
there received the grade of a bishop from king
Mathew, and the holy bishop. He also assumed
the name of Patricius, his former name being
Maun. Agrilius, a priest, and Isertiiflus, a
deacon, and several others, were ordained with
him.

" Having received the blessing, and being per-
fect in all things, he went to Britain where he re-
mained but a short time and then to Ireland.
From the beginning of the world to the conver-
sion of the Irish, was 5330 years. In the fifth
year of king Loigare, Patrick began to preach
Christ in Hibernia." The rest of these chapters
relate to the acts of St. Patrick, which are much
the same as given in the Book of Armagh.

CAP. LXII and LXIH <( At this time the
Saxons grew strong and increased in numbers
in Britain. Hengist died, and Ochta his son went
and settled on tbe east side of Britain in the
kingdom of Kent, and from him descended the
kings of that country. Arthur fought against
them in those days, viz. the Saxons, with the kings

x 2

THE GAEL.

of the Britons. He was a great general and was
successful in every battle.

CAP. XLIII. " The first battle was at the mouth
of the river called Glen.* The second, third,
fourth, and fifth, upon another river called the
Duglas^ which is in the country of Linais. The
sixth was on the river called Bassas. The seventh
was in the Caledonian wood, that is Cattoit Ce-
ledon. The eighth was in Castle Gunnin, in
which Arthur had carried the image of Jesus
Christ, and of St. Mary, always virgin, upon his
shoulders, and the Pagans were put to flight on
that day, and many were slain, and dreadful
slaughter took place in consequence by the power
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy virgin, his
mother. (For Arthur had been to Jerusalem,
&c.) The ninth battle was at the city of Legion.
The tenth was on the shore of the river called
Ribriot. The eleventh was at the mountain called
Agned Cathregonion. The twelfth was at the
Mountain Badon, on w r hich day Arthur with his
own hand, slew 811 men.

* Gale makes this the Glan in Lincolnshire, where Glems-
ford is now, and says Vortigern gave Hengist, Lincoln, from
whence the Britons were afterwards expelled.

f This Duglas, Gale fixes near Wigan, in Lincolnshire.
His other guesses are not more satisfactory.

NENNIUS. 309

CAP. LXIV. " The barbarians being over-
thrown in every battle, sought for help from
Germany ; and thus greatly increased in numbers,
and even the kings of Germany came over with
their people to reign in Bri-tain. And they did
reign down the time when Ida, the son of Eobba,
who was the first king of Bernicia, that is Iber-
neich.

CAP. LXV. " Ida the son of Eobba, held the
country on the left bank of the Humber sea
twelve years, and joined the two regions of Den-
raberneth, in English Deira and Bernicia. El-
fled, the daughter of Edwin, twelve days after
Pentecost, received baptism, and an innumerable
multitude with her. But she was first baptized ;
Edwin on the Easter following was baptized, and
12,000 men with him in one day. Saint Paulinus,
archbishop of York, baptized them, and for forty
days ceased not to baptize all the clan Ambronwn,
that is old Saxons, and by his preaching many
believed in Christ."

The names of the cities of Britain from Nen-
nius, Henry of Huntingdon, Alfred of Beverley,

&c.

1 Caer Guerthigirn, or Vortigern somewhere
in Pembrokeshire.

310 THE GAEL.

2 Caer Mimicip.

3 Caer Meguid, or Merdic Caermarthen.

4 Caer Eborauc York.

5 Caer Verulam St. Albans.

6 Caer Mauchguid.

7 Caer-Canit Canterbury.

8 Caer Peris Porchester.

9 Caer Linon Leicester.

10 Caer Gwent Winchester.

1 1 Caer Glovi Gloucester.

12 Caer Pensavelcoit supposed Exeter.

13 Caer Celemon Camelet, in Somersetshire.

14 Caer Gwinting.

15 Caer Luadit Leeds.

16 Caer Colun Colchester.

17 Caer distent.

18 Caer Graunth Grantchester, Cambridge.

19 Caer Lunden London.

20 Caer Guoirangen Worcester.

21 Caer Danti Dorchester.

22 Caer Gorieon.

23 Caer Legion Carlisle.

24 Caer Guarisik.

25 Caer Britton.

26 Caer Droithen Draiten in Shropshire ?

27 Caer Urnach Uriconium, Wroxeter.

28 Caer Luitcoit Lincoln.

29 Caer Segent Silchester, near Reading, on

NKNNIUS. 311

the Thames, the most perfect Roman city now
extant.

The various copies of Nennius differ in the
readings so much that it is evident all are very
unlike the original work of that author. The
whole has been ascribed to Gil das, or rather
to be a commentary on Gildas. It is evident,
however, that there is some truth, but much em-
bellishment. Nennius is said to have lived about
the year 620, whereas the calculations and events
recorded, come down to the year, A. D. 830.

Nennius supplies evidence, of the strongest
and most decided character, that the antient
Britons spoke Gaelic. Every word which he
gives, as in his own tongue, (lingua nostra,)
is Gaelic, and not Welsh. But the most striking
and unanswerable proof is to be found in the
fifty-third chapter, where the pedigree of Vor-
tigern is recited ; it is precisely in the language
and form of all Irish pedigrees, as follows :

Firmail son of )ie<x/im<xol

Theudubr son of m<xc teb bub

Pascent mac mac

(Ap) Guocan mac mac

Moriud mac mac

312 THE GAEL.

Eldat mac mac eJle

Eldoe mac mac eJle bub

Paul mac mac pa) I

Mepric mac mac

Briecat mac mac

Pascent mac mac pea^cean

Vortigern mac mac jrOftrJgea/m
Guortheneu mac mac go/iteajnoe

Guitaal mac mac

Guitolin mac mac

Glovi mac gtobab

What Bonus Paulus Mauron means after
Glovi, it is not easy to define, but it is, no doubt,
a corrupted Gaelic epithet which the embellish-
ers of the text of Nennius, not understanding,
left as it was. It is very likely to have been
beana^ pata^ mJ/ieaJn, or Glovi, the prosperous
and happy king, literally, of the palace of con-
stant pleasure. The names of Hugh Duff, Slack
Hugh, Eile das, handsome Eile, and indeed all
the other names are of constant occurrence in
Irish pedigrees.

Gale in his notes " on the various readings of
Nennius," on this chapter, says : " I suspect
this Vortigern to have been of the tribe of the
Picts, or Scots, who, by the help of the Picts, be-

NENNIUS. 313

came possessed of the kingdom.' 5 * Gale saw
clearly that this pedigree was not Welsh, but
being satisfied that the Welsh were the antient
Britons, ventured this suspicion, at a hazard, to
account for so great an anomaly.

I consider the chapters 62, 63, and 64, to have
been interpolations. Arthur is introduced in an
unusual and unnatural manner, quite as a di-
gression, and appears out of place. The scenes
of his exploits were all in North Britain, as the
Caledonian Wood indicates, when the Saxons
were encroaching on the territory of the Picts.

It would appear from Nennius, that the Gaelic
British race kept possession of most of South
Wales, till about the eighth or ninth century,
when the history of the Welsh commences under
Roderick the Great. The pedigree of the des-
cendants of Vortigern brings it down to that
period, being ten generations, which in common y
computation is about three hundred years.

The notes of Gale on Nennius, demonstrate
the greatest variance, not only as to expression,

* Hoec genealogia addita fuisse videtur a Samuele ego sus-
picor Guortigcrnurn fuisse gencre Pictum, vel Scytham ; qui
Pictorum ope ad regnum pervenerit."

THE GAEL.

and the names of individuals, but in the sense.
It appears that the original work of Nennius
was very small ; but in subsequent ages was en-
larged, by adding the acts of individuals of
after-times. At length the feats of Arthur
found a place, although he was a Pict, and of
a different race from the Gaelic Britons.

-

< I /** ftt^k ( "^ &

I. "

^^**<-> -*>t- / y 0W;'
*H*

GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH.

The prefatory epistle of Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth, addressed to Robert, earl of Gloucester,
son to king Henry I. by Nest a, daughter of Rhys
ap Tudor, prince of South Wales, shows what
were then the opinions respecting the early his-
tory of Britain. He found the information con-
tained in Gildas and Bede, not at all flattering
to the vanity of his countrymen. There was
no evidence, in either, to identify, or even con-
nect, the history of the Welsh people with that
of the antient Britons, and he tells us he had
looked in vain for information for the purpose.
His words are :

" Having, in the course of various readings
and meditations, taken up the subject of the
history of the kings of Britain, I was sur-
prised to find that neither Gildas or Bede, though

Sl() THE GAEL AND CYM13RI.

they have written copiously concerning them,
have taken any notice of those kings who lived
before the incarnation of our Lord, or even of
Arthur, or many more who succeeded that event ;
although their actions merit eternal celebrity, and
are, by many nations, firmly retained in mind,
and recited, from memory, with pleasure. These,
and similar reflections, had often occurred to me,
when Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, a person pre-
eminent in eloquence, and the knowledge of fo-
reign history, brought me a very old book written
in the British language, (Welsh) which gives, in
very good language, a regular chronological his-
tory of the British kings from Brutus, the first
king, to Cadwalader, the son of Cadwallon. This
book I have, at his request, carefully translated
into Latin, &c. &c."

Here we have an assertion, that, though neither
Gildas nor Bede took any notice of Arthur and
the other kings from Brutus, their history was
well known in the traditions of his countryman,
(and other nations,) the Welsh, by whom they
were recited with pleasure.

Allowing this story to be true, it only amounts
to this, that Walter, the archdeacon, brought him
an old legendary romance, the compilation, or pro-

GEOFFIiEY OF MON MOUTH.

duction, of some fanciful visionary writer,
which he thought proper to adopt as the ground-
work of an imaginary history of Britain. Such
parts as were consistent with Welsh traditions,
he embellished and augmented, and thus formed
what has been received, by the too credulous self-
love of his countrymen, as a veritable history,
to which it has equal pretensions with the Mirror
of Knighthood, or the History of the illus-
trious Valentine and Orson, sons of the mag-
nificent Emperor of Greece.

^Before the appearance of Geoffrey's Book, the
early history of Wales was a blank, and the
origin of the Welsh obscure and little known,
for the first time, they were grafted by Geoffrey
on the stock of the antient Britons./

Polydore Vergil, after speaking in great praise
of Gildas, cautions his readers against the pseudo
writer who appeared with his name " ut tempes-
tive lectorem nefarise fraudis admoneamus." This
was the book now called Nennius, which certainly
was originally a work worthy of credit, as it con-
tains passages (notwithstanding the care which
has been taken to fit it to Welsh story, and cor-
rupt it by additions, and probably suppressions and

318 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

alterations) totally at variance with the theory of
history, which Geoffrey attempted to establish.

Poly (lore Vergil also cautions his readers
against giving credit to other writers, and among
them to Geoffrey ; he says :

" And, in more recent times, to excuse the Bri-
tons of their faults, a writer starts up, who com-
piles a ridiculous context of fictions, and, with
impudent vanity extols their virtues far above
those of the Macedonians and Romans. He was
called Geoffrey r , of the sirname of Arthur, who
relates many fictitious things of king Arthur and
the antient Britons, invented by himself, but pre-
tended to be translated by him into Latin, which
he palms on the world with the sacred name of true
history. With bare-faced impudence also he added
a long story respecting the prophecies and divi-
nations of one Merlin, as if he had also translated
them into Latin, and published them, thus endea-
vouring to support his history by approved and
imrnoveable prophecies."

This is severe, but not altogether unjust cri-
ticism. Leland wrote a tract which he called
" Assertio Arthur is" published by Hearm, in

GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH. 319

the Appendix to " Lelandi Collectanea" in which,
however, he. failed to make a case of acquittal for
Geoffrey.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, being the only founda-
tion of Welsh history, has with no small zeal and
warmth, been supported and defended by the
Welsh historians.

In the year 1811, the Rev. Peter Roberts,
published an English version of Geoffrey, under
the title of " The Chronicle of the kings of
Britain" translated from the Welsh copy attri-
buted to Tysilio, with original dissertations on
Gildas, the Brut, the primary population of Bri-
tain, the laws of Dyfnwall Moelmyd, and the
antient British "church. To set up Geoffrey,
he found it necessary to put down Gildas, their
statements being quite inconsistent with each
other. Mr. Roberts' zeal, in defence of the
traditions of his country, is entitled to respect,
and it must be admitted, that he treated the
subject fairly, though not always with cool-
ness and temper. I am not inclined to admit
the accuracy of the motto he adopted " De
Gentis antiquitate et origine magis creditur
ipsi genti, atque vicinis quam remotis et externis"

THE GAEL.

This is not universally the case, and when the
early history of a country, or a saint, is unknown,
the ingenuity of the cloister has never been
wanting to supply the defect. He says ;

" The influence which the history and epistle
attributed to Gildas, has had upon the minds of
the greater part of those who have written con-
cerning the antiquities of Britain, is well known
to every man who has in any degree made them
his study. As a person highly respected for his
learning, even so as to have acquired the appella-
tion of the wise, a deference has been paid to
his name, which it was impossible to justify by
the writings to which it is attached ; and some-
times with a promptitude and zeal that seem to
indicate more of the satisfaction in having an
apology for not making an inquiry, than of the
wish to know whether these writings were worthy
of credit. It is true that Leland, Lhuyd, and even
Usher and Stillingfleet, have been led to give them
credit ; not merely on the name, but as having
found them referred to decidedly by writers of
the IQth century, and that an epistle of Gildas is
referred to by Bede. But whilst they attended
to these references, they do not appear to have
given that attention to the writings themselves,

GILDAS. 321

which was extremely necessary. They do, in-
deed, consider the copies as imperfect and cor-
rupted, but this seems to be the utmost,"

It will be admitted, that the above statement
would rather tend to impress an unbiassed mind
that the deference paid to the writings of Gildas,
by those judicious, as well as eminently learned
writers, was founded on grounds not to be easily
shaken. An author frequently quoted by writers
of the twelfth century, and mentioned by Bede
himself, who died so early in the eighth as A. D.
736, must be considered worthy of the respect
he has received from the most eminent historical
writers of the modern times. It must be from
the inconsistencies discoverable in the writings
themselves that he must be tried ; and, therefore,
Mr. Roberts proceeds to examine him by that
ordeal. A mode of trial by which " Poor
Geoffrey" as Mr. Roberts calls him, has been
tried and condemned by the unanimous verdict
of all but Welsh writers.

How Gildas passes through the ordeal will now
appear. Mr, Roberts proceeds :

" By this means an importance has been given
to them, which, probably, had it not been for a

Y

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

single assertion, they never would have acquired ;
as the historic narrative is little or nothing, and
often known to be false, and the epistle is a mere
farrago of calumny."

Again " This assertion, which is indubitably
false, is found at the end of the second chapter
of the History. It states his intention to com-
pile his history, ' not so much from the writings
of the country, or testimonies of their writings,
(because, if such ever existed, they were not
to be found, having been either burned or car-
ried away by the exiles,) as from foreign autho-
rities, though frequently deficient."

" Having considered and examined the whole
of these writings attentively, I found, not, in-
deed, to my surprize, but to my satisfaction, that
there is in them sufficient evidence that they are
forgeries, exclusive of abundant external evi-
dence. This I will now endeavour to prove from
internal and external evidence."

Mr. Roberts then proceeds to state, that Gil-
das indulged himself in an " uninterrupted strain
of enmity against Britain, and partiality to every
thing Roman : no topic of censure, no occasion
of insult, no representation by which he can

GILDAS. 323

lower the estimation of the country and its inha-
bitants, occurs to him, but he employs it with a
marked malignity, unless he can point out some-
thing of a connection with Rome to excuse the
exception." " This is deliberate animosity
against his own nation," "for which he deserves"
"the deliberate execration of his own country,
and every honest man."

This is very strong language, and exhibits a
feeling not likely to afford Poor Gildas an im-
partial trial. What is here objected, however,
rather establishes than destroys the authenti-
city of the Gildas we possess, by insinuating
that it has taken the place of the real Gildas,
of whom William of Malmesbury thus speaks
" He was neither a weak nor inadequate histo-
rian ; and that to him the Britons were indebted
for whatever estimation they have in other na-
tions"

This character cannot, says Mr. Roberts, be
given to the Gildas we possess, which is verbose,
inflated, involved, and tedious. The language
and style of Gildas is certainly querulous, but it
is polished and eloquent, though he says it
" rambles through periods of insufferable length,

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

with a tediousness that wearies the eye and the
understanding."

He afterwards quotes Lilius Gyraldus, who
wrote 1450, who says Gildas wrote " in an easy
flowing style" whom he found quoted in every old
British History.

From these Mr. Roberts infers, that the Gildas
we possess must be a forgery, and that the ge-
nuine Gildas is lost a conclusion to which few
will give their adhesion.

The evidence he brings forward rather es-
tablishes the converse. Gildas was a Roman
Briton his language was Latin which he
wrote in a conceited style, the foible of his coun-
trymen, who piqued themselves on the elegance
of their Latin.

Mr. Roberts' pedigree of Gildas is not worthy
of notice ; there was nothing more common
among such fabricators as Geoffrey, or the writer
of the life of St. Tielo, than to hook on an emi-
nent person to a fictitious genealogy ; nor are his
observations, on the religious opinions, of the
weight he wishes to give them. Those observa-

GILDAS. 325

tions may look very like interpolations, in favour
of the doctrines of the Roman Church, but they
do not impeach the general credit of Gildas.

Mr. Roberts brings forward another argument
to prove the alledged writings of Gildas a for-
gery, " beyond a possibility of doubt" He
says "It could not fail to be observed that
Nennius and Asserius had given the explanation
of Welsh words in their histories ; something of
this kind it was necessary to attempt in a forgery ;
this writer has, therefore, attempted to do the
same in one instance, and in that one he has
failed, viz. in his interpretation of the name
Cuneglas, which he gives thus * Cuneglas,
Romand linqud, lanio fulve ;' and in the inter-
pretation of another name he has betrayed him-
self.

" Whether there ever was a prince of the
name of Cuneglas, or not, is of as little conse-
quence as certainty ; and, whether there was or
not, the interpretation of the name is such, that
I can, of my own knowledge, I believe, safely
affirm, that the Welsh language does not afford
any single word, or combination of words, simi-
lar to Cuneglas, whose signification will ap-
proach it. Neither will the Cornish or Armoric

326 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

dialects, as far as the dictionaries of Price and
Lliuyd extend, afford any such. All that can be
said of the attempt is, that the writer wanted an
interpretation and invented one"

" In the second instance he is not more suc-
cessful. Speaking of the invasion of Britain by
the Saxons, he says, that nation came over
c tribus (ut ejus lingua exprimetur) cyulis, nostrd
lingua, longis navibus" In three keels, as they
are called in their language ; that is, in ours,
long ships." Is it then credible that Gildas,
who was a Briton, and of the British Church,
could consider the Latin language as his own,
and say of it, nostrd lingua ? Certainly not.
To account, then, for such a mode of expression
will be very difficult, unless upon the supposition
that the writer was of Italian origin, or one of
the Church of Rome. That he was one or the
other, I believe ; and, perhaps, both."

Let us now examine these two objections of
Mr. Roberts, which are of no trifling importance,
when made by a learned and honest Welshman,
zealous for his country's honor, and warm and
impassioned in his reproaches. He tells you that
Cuneglas has no meaning in the] Welsh lan-
guage, and, therefore, Gildas must be a forgery ;

GILDAS, 327

but instead of having such a tendency, it esta-
blishes the genuine character of Gil das, " beyond
a possibility of doubt," to use Mr. Roberts' own
phrase, for it is another strong evidence that the
Welsh was not the language of the Britons. In
the Gaelic, Cuneglas has exactly the meaning
ascribed to it by Gildas culne, lanio ;

or the hoary butcher or blood hound. This
objection, therefore, proves the exact converse
of what Mr. Roberts supposed.

The second objection is scarcely necessary to
be answered. The British language had, during
the period of near five hundred years, that Bri-
tain had been a Roman province, been superseded
by the Latin, and got into disuse, and nearly
forgotten, except in remote provinces, the proba-
bility of which requires no stronger evidence than
what has taken place in Ireland within the last two
hundred years. In the time of James I. the Irish
was universally spoken, even by the gentry, in all
parts of Ireland, now not one native of Leinster,
even of the lower orders, in a thousand, under-
stand a word of it, and very few of the higher
orders in the remote parts of Ireland. It is there-
fore, nothing extraordinary in Gildas calling the
Latin lingua nostrd, for he was a Roman Briton,
and spoke Latin, and only knew the British, as a

328 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

scholar. The names of persons were probably
the extent of the British tongue known among
the people of his day.

Mr. Roberts supplies in another place, im-
portant testimony as to the difference between
the Welsh and the Gaelic languages, of which I
could not refuse to avail myself in support of that
position which is so essential to establish my third
position, that those nations who are not Gael, are
not Celtse. He says :

" The learned and acute Whitaker, has, in my
opinion, fully proved that the names, Celtse,
Galatse, and Gauls, belong to the Gael. But if
these names belong to the Gael, they most cer-
tainly cannot, with any propriety, belong to the
Cymry. It is true that the Greek and Roman
historians have used these names with great lati-
tude ; but it does not follow that they applied
them correctly. Pliny says : ' Persee illos (Scy-
thas) Sacos in universum app ell aver e a proxima
gente.' * The Persians gave to the Scythians in
general, the name of Sacce, from that of the
nation nearest them. 9 And thus it has frequently
happened in different ages, that the name first
known, became a general name for the inhabitants
of an extensive territory, though they were of

WELSH NOT CELTS. 329

distinct nations and languages. If the Greeks
became first acquainted with the nation called
Galatae, they would naturally enough compre-
hend under the name, another neighbouring
nation, whose language they did not understand,
or who were connected with the Galatse by poli-
tical ties. Hence, I conceive, that from such a
general name no decisive evidence can be drawn
as to the general natural identity of those com-
prized under it. This can be inferred only from
identity of language, custom, and laws, but more
especially from that of language, as the other
two are often adopted. Since, therefore, the
languages of the Cymry and Gael are perfectly
distinct, they must be distinct nations ; and if the
distinction had been cautiously attended to, much
confusion, both in history and etymology would
have been avoided. The principle of this dis-
tinction is at least as old as the time of Dionysius
of Halicarnassus. It is that on which he decides
that the Tyrrheni and the Pelasgi were distinct
nations. His words are ' If the natural affinity
produces similarity of language, the reverse pro-
duces diversity of language ; on this principle
I am persuaded that the Pelasgi are a different
people from the Tyrrhenians. 9

" The argument is just, and this principle is

330 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

the only one I know of, by which the question
can be ultimately decided. Had Mr. Whitaker
known either the Welsh or Gaelic language well,
I am persuaded he would have been very far from
supposing that the Cymry and Gael were the same
people, for he would have found that either of
their languages is of no more use to the under-
standing of the other, than the mere knowledge
of the Latin to the understanding of the Greek.
There is about one word in fifteen, similar, but
rarely the same in sound and signification in both
languages. In the first nine columns of the Irish
Dictionary, printed by Lhuyd, in his Archseologia
there are four hundred words, of which I have
not been able to discover more than twenty, in
common to both languages, nor iave I succeeded
better in several trials. Moreover the gramma-
tical structure, as to the declension and construc-
tion, are radically different. The Welsh, though
abundant in radical words, and copious in com-
pounds, has left but few radical synonimes ; the
Gael, if I may judge from the Dictionaries,
abounds with them ; a circumstance which proves
the Gael must have had intimate intercourse*

* A strong corroboration of the Phenician origin of the
Gael.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 331

with other nations, and that the Cymbri had not,
on their way thither. The difference between the
two languages, I have, in my own experience,
but too much reason to regret, for my own sake,
as it deprives me of much pleasure, which, without
devoting more time than I have been able to
spare, I could not attain to in the perusal of
works in the Irish or Erse. Neither does the
best Irish scholar living, my learned friend. Ge-
neral Vallancey, understand the Welsh. I am
fully aware, that what I have said is not in unison
with the opinion prevalent amongst antiquaries ;
but as that opinion has been founded mostly, and
I believe wholly, on such a knowledge of the two
languages as may have been derived from diction-
aries only, I feel the less hesitation in stating the
fact which they have mistaken. The Cimbri,
and the Celtse have both been great and power-
ful nations ; and both, by turns, in many instances
been in possession of the same countries, singly,
and in common, in France and England, more es-
pecially, and have names imposed by the one, and
the other, and sometimes to be found within the
same territory ; many such words have become
common to both languages, and others in conse-
quence of intercourse. But this is, I think, the
utmost ; unless those radical words which, as
having been constituent parts of the original

332 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

language of mankind, are yet to be found in the
languages of various and distant countries to be
included ; and also technical terms, and the
names of animals and planets, of which the former
generally belong to the language of those who
invented that which they signify, and the latter
to the language of the country where they are
found.

" From these circumstances I am persuaded
that the Cymry and Gael, or Celtae, are distinct
nations ; and they seem to me to have come by
distinct routes to Britain ; the Cymry from the
north, and the Gael by one to the south of Mount
Hsemus and the Alps."

The establishment of this fact was the first
step towards developing the true early history of
Britain ; and it is a matter of no small surprise
and astonishment, that so acute and intelligent
a writer as Mr. Roberts, after seeing it so
clearly, could still continue to support the fables
of Geoffrey of Monmouth, which it totally de-
molishes. That he did not also see that it
upset all the pretensions of the Welsh to
be the Britons of Caesar's day, who are distinctly
stated by Caesar and Tacitus, to have been the
same people as the Gauls.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 333

The arguments and dicta of all the most
eminently learned, judicious, and respectable
of the Welsh writers, in a most extraordinary
and effectual way, assist in prostrating the fabric
of received Welsh history, by proving that the
Welsh were not Celts, had nothing to do with
Druids, and instead of being the suffering and
pusillanimous Roman Britons, enervated, as Gildas
says, by luxury and wickedness, valiant to do evil
but wanting the courage and firmness requisite
to defend their houses, altars, wives, and little
ones, against their enemies, were the descendants
of the barbarous but gallant Caledonian Picts,
who invaded the Roman province at the fall of
the empire ; and having exterminated the inha-
bitants, made themselves masters of Wales and
Cornwall, and subsequently of the Armorican
province of Gaul.

The ancestors of the Welsh were, in fact, the
very people against whom the Saxon mercenaries
were invited to defend the effeminate, profligate,
and debilitated Roman provincials, the barba-
rians who carried fire, sword, and desolation, and
every horror into the Roman province ; the ag-
gressors, and not the sufferers, the gallant inva-
ders, and not the paltroons who basely refused to
fight 'pro aris et focis.'

334< THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Edward Lhuyd in his Welsh preface, says :
" As for the inhabitants of Cornwall and Armo-
rick Britain, although they lived amongst Eng-
lish and French, their language shews, as you see
plainly, that they were entirely Britons^/^WsA.^)
But you will, doubtless, be at a loss for that in-
finite number of exotic words, which, besides the
British, (Welsh) you'll find in the Irish of Scot-
land and Ireland. There are for this, as seems
to me, two reasons I say, as seems, because we
have no authority of histories, or other means, that
may lead us unto the truth, but comparing of
languages. In the first place, I suppose that the
antient colonies of Ireland were two distinct
nations co-inhabiting, Gwydhels and Scots,
that the Gwydhels, were the old inhabi-
tants of this island, and that the Scots came out
of Spain. So far, therefore, as their language
agrees either with us or the other Britains, the
words are Gwydhelian, and for the rest, they
must be also either Gwydhelian, lost to
our ancestors, or else antient Scottish. So the
second reason for their having so many unknown
words, is, for that the Welsh, Cornish and Ar-
morick Britains, have lost some part of their old

From its similarity to the Welsh.

WELSH NOT CELTS.

335

language, (in regard they were for the space of
almost five hundred years, viz. from the time of
Julius Csesar to Valentinian III. under the go-
vernment of the people of Rome.*) And thus
'tis possible a great many of those words which
seem to us exotic, may be old British, though we
do not know them. According to those examples
I have instanced in (p. 7. c. i.) nor was it only
in North Britain that these Gwydhelians, ( Gael)
have in the most antient times inhabited ; but
also" England and Wales. Whether before our
time, or contemporary with us, or both, cannot be
determined ! But to me it seems most probable
they were here before our coming into the island.
And our ancestors did from time to time force
them northward, and that from the Kintire (or
Foreland) of Scotland, where there is but four
leagues of sea, and from the country of Galloway
and the Isle of Man, they passed over into Ire-
land, as they have that way returned backward
and forward often since. Neither was their pro-
gress into this island out of a more remote coun-
try than Gaul, now better known by the names

ofwi

6Ut J vff&t

* This would have introduced Latin into the Welsh, of
which there is, however, very little, and go to prove that
the Welsh were never under the Roman subjection.

336 THE GAEL.

of the kingdoms of France, the Low Countries,
and the Low Dutch.

" Having now related what none have hitherto
made mention of viz. First, that the old inha-
bitants of Ireland consisted of two nations, Gwyd-
helian and Scots. Secondly, that the Gwydhe-
lians descended from the most antient Britains,
and the Scots from Spain. Thirdly, that
the Gwydhelians lived in the most antient
times, not only in North Britain, (where they
still continue intermixed with Scots, Saxons, and
Danes,) but also in England and Wales. And
fourthly, that the said Gwydhelians of
England and Wales were inhabitants of Gaul
before they came into this island. Having been
so bold, I say, as to write such novelties, and yet
at the same time to acknowledge that I have no
written authority for them, I am obliged to pro-
duce what reasons I have ; and that, as the ex-
tent of this letter requires, in as few words as may
be.

" I have already proved at large, in the first
and second sections bf this book, that our lan-
guage agrees with a very great part of theirs ;
and in the Irish grammar you will find that the
genius or nature of their language in their chang-
ing their initial letters in the same manner, is also

WELSH NOT CELTS. 337

agreeable to the Welsh. 5 * And as by collating
the languages, I have found one part of the Irish
reconcileable to the Welsh ; so by a diligent pe-
rusal of the New Testament, and some manuscript
papers, I received from the learned Dr. Edward
Brown, written in the language of the Cantabri-
ans, I have had a satisfactory knowledge as to the
affinity of the other part with the old Spanish. f
For though a great deal of that language be re-
tained in the present ; yet much better preserved
do we find it among the Cantabrians. Now, my
reason for calling the British Irish, Gwydhelians,
(Gael) and those of Spain, Scots., is because the
old British manuscripts call the Picts Fitckid
Gwydhelians ; and the Picts were Britains,
(Welsh) without question, as appears, not only
by the name of them in Latin and Irish, but by
the names of the mountains and rivers in the
Lowlands of Scotland, where they inhabited.
And there, probably, they are yet, (though their
language be lost) intermixed with Scots, Strath-
clyde Britons, old Saxons, Danes, and Normans.

* This is the only similarity, and it is but trifling and
unimportant when compared with the great difference in
the construction of two languages.

f Lhuyd was deceived in this, there is no affinity between
the Cantabrian, or Biscay an language, and the Gaelic.

z

338 THE GAEL AND CYJVIBRI.

As for entitling the Spanish- Irish, Scots, there
wants no authority, the Irish authors having con-
stantly called the Spanish colony Kin Scuit, or
the Scottish nation. No more, therefore, need be
said to prove the Gwydhelians (Gael) antient
Britains."

Mr. Lhuyd then enters into a comparison be-
tween the Irish and Biscayan, in which he dis-
covers, as may be found in almost every tongue,
some words having the same sound, having also
the same meaning ; it is not necessary to follow
him, but he concludes as follows :

" Seeing then 'tis somewhat manifest that the
antient inhabitants consisted of two nations, and
that the Gwydhelians were Britons, and that
Nennius, and others, wrote many ages since, an
unquestionable truth, when they asserted the
Scottish nations coming out of Spain.

66 The next thing I have to make out is, that
the part of them called Gwydhelians, have once
dwelt in England and Wales. There are none
of the Irish themselves, that I know of, amongst
all the writings they have published about the his-
tory and origin of their nation, that maintain
they were possessed of England and Wales.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 339

And yet, whoever takes notice of a great many
of the names of the rivers and mountains through-
out the kingdom, will find no reason to doubt,
but the Irish must have been the inhabitants
when those names were imposed upon them.
There is no name antiently more common on
rivers than Uysk, which the Romans writ Isca and
Osca ; and yet, as I have elsewhere observed, re-
tained in the English, in the several names of Ask,
Esk, Usk, and Ex, Axe, Ox, &c. Now, although
there be a considerable river of that name in Wales,
and another in Devon, yet the signification of the
word is not understood, either in our language or
the Cornish. Neither is it less vain to look for it
in the British of Wales, Cornwall, or Armorick
Britain, than 'twould be to search for Avon,
which is a name of some of the rivers of England,
in the English. The signification of the word in
Irish, is water. And as the words Coorn, Dore,
Stour, Taine, Dove, Avon, &c. in England,
confess that they are no other than the Welsh
Kum, Dur, Ysdur, Tdv, Dim, and Avon, and
thereby shew the Welsh to be their old inhabi-
tants so do the words Ui.sk, Loch, Kinuy, Ban,
Drim, and Lechbia, and several others, make it
manifest that the Irish were antiently possessed
of those places j forasmuch as in their language
the signification of the words are water, lake, a

340 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

great river, a mountain, a back or ridge, a grey-
stone. As for the word Uisg, (or Uisge) it is so well
known that they use no other word at all for water.
And I have formerly suspected, that in regard that
there are so many rivers of that name throughout
England, the word might have been antiently in
our language. But having looked for it in vain
in the old Loegrian British, still retained in Corn-
wall, and Bass Bretagne ; and reflecting that
it 'twas impossible, had it been once in the Bri-
tish, that both they and we should lose a word of
so common a use, and of so necessary a significa-
tion, I could find no place to doubt but that the
Gwydhelians have formerly lived all over the
kingdom, and that our ancestors had forced the
greatest part of them to retire to the north, and to
Ireland, in the very same manner as the Romans
afterwards subdued us, and as the barbarians of
Germany and Denmark, upon the downfal of the
Roman power, have driven us one age after ano-
ther, to our present limits."

This learned, intelligent, and able Welshman,
was well acquainted with the Irish and Scottish
Gaelic, and spoke the Welsh as his mother
tongue. In addressing the Welsh, in their own
language, who are perhaps national above all
others, on a subject of great interest, he tells them,

WELSH NOT CELTS. 341

in substance, that they are comparatively a recent
colony in Wales, and that the Gwydhelians, or
Gael, a people who spoke Irish, were their pre-
decessors, as well in their beautiful and romantic
country, as in the other parts of Britain, but does
not even hint at the period when the Welsh be-
came possessors of the country, but says "it
cannot be determined" ^

Mr. Lhuyd also, in a letter to Rowland, the
author of * Mona Antiqua/ published in that
work, p. 334, states that he found in the public
library at Cambridge, "a very antient MS. of
Juvencus, a Spanish priest, who turned the Gos-
pel into heroic verse, in the time of Constantine.
'Twas written upon very thick parchment, in
that character we call the Irish, but was indeed
antiently the British, whence both they and the
Saxons received it. Turning* the leaves over,
I observed, here and there, some words glossed
or interpreted by other more familiar Latin, and
sometimes by British, whereby I learned that the
Britains pronounced the letter m in the midst and
at the end of words, as we do v consonant, which
accounts for the name Cadvan being written
Catamanus at Llan Gadwaladr"

The peculiarity mentioned here of the m

342 THE GAEL AND CYMBBI.

having the power of the v 9 is Irish ; an m with
the point over it, in the middle of a word, is al-
ways so pronounced or mute. Thus again, Mr.
Lhuyd proves that the antient Britons spoke
what we now call Irish. What Mr. Lhuyd sup-
poses to be, and calls British, he did not under-
stand, for he adds

" I learned several other notes as to their or-
thography, with the signification of some few
words ; but I am at a loss to know the British of
what country it was ; for it seems so different
from ours, that I should rather suspect it either
for the language of the Picts, or that of the Strath-
clwyd Britains, as perhaps you will own upon
reading the three following Englyns,* which I
found at the top margin of three successive pages
in the midst of the book. I sent it to one Mr.
, a Shropshire Welshman, and a famous lin-
guist and critick, but he returned me such an in ,
terpretation as I shall not trouble you withal."

Mr. Rowland, speaking of oval and round
stone foundations on the hills in Anglesea, says :t
" 'Tis true they were called Cyttie Gwyddelod,

* Verses. f Mona Antiqua, p. 27.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 34-3

Irishmen's cottages ; but that must be a vulgar
error, if, by Gwyddelod, be meant the inhabitants
of Ireland, who never inhabited this island, so
as to leave any remains of their creats and cot-
tages behind them ; for those Irish, that are said
to rob and pillage this island, seldom staid long
in it, and if they had, they cannot well be
supposed to leave those marks behind them,
having found here good houses to lodge them-
selves in, for the time they stopped, and were
in no need of using that Irish custom, when they
could not fail of being better provided. But if
by Gwyddelod be meant the aborigines, the first
inhabitants, (as it is not unlikely it may, for the
two words that make up that name are purely
British, viz. Gwydd and Held) i. e. J^ood
Rangers, which was, perhaps, the common appel-
lation of the aborigines, lost with us, and re-
tained only by the Irish, the objection falls, and
the instance confirms the conjecture, that they are
the remains of the first planter's habitations, while
they were destroying the woods and cultivating
the country."

This is a far-fetched, weak, and unsatisfactory
interpretation, but the facts recited are of great
importance, in shewing the Welsh were not the
original inhabitants of Wales, but that they were a

344 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

people the Welsh called Gwyddel, or gaoJbeal, the
very name given by them to the Irish at the pre-
sent day, and to the Gauls in the days of Caesar ;
gaoJ&JUj, is the same word as Celtic, or Gaelic,
and it is pronounced as the latter. It is therefore,
plain, that the true meaning of the words cyttie
Gwyddelod, was cottages of the Gael, i. e. the
primitive inhabitants. It is unnecessary to refute
the arguments made use of by Rowland. Who were
to give the name of woodmen to the original in-
habitants while they were clearing the woods
away and cultivating the soil ? Not the Welsh,
surely, who could not be supposed to be present
at the first settlement of their predecessors.

Mr. Rowland, while he confesses his igno-
rance as to the language which was first spoken
in these western parts of Europe, somewhat
equivocally says " All that antiquity affords us
is, that the antientest names, in several places in
the kingdom of France, and throughout the isle
of Great Britain, are with the best congruity of
sound, and reason of the thing, a sour learned
Camden, and the French Bochart, have made
appear, in several instances resolved to our
present Welsh and British etymons which must
be an argument that this language at first gave
them those names, (generally betokening the na-

WELSH NOT CELTS. 345

ture, or some eminent property, of the places or
things so named, as the first imposed names, that
they were compounded of two or more sounds,
expressing- different ideas generally did,) conti-
nued on them without any great attention to this
day." (Mona Antiqua. 32.)

This is true, but it is to the Gaelic British
it is applicable, not to Welsh etymons , for even
Messrs. Lhuyd and Rowland acknowledge that
the names of places, even in Wales itself, are not
resolvable into Welsh etymons, but, on the con-
trary, they are constrained to declare that the
Welsh is not the language of the people who
named the prominent features of their own coun-
try. It has already been shewn that the antient
British kings and heroes were not Welsh, and
that they have no just title of descent from even
their alledged progenitor, Cadwallader, who was
a Gael and not a Cymbri.

Rowland, therefore, was convinced that the
language of Anglesea and Wales, which gave
names to the places and prominent features of
that country, was not his mother tongue, the
Welsh, for he could not explain those denomi-
nations in that language, although a learned man,
and well qualified in every respect for such a

3i6 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

task ; he is, therefore, driven to groundless con-
jecture and guesses, like the empiric who specu-
lates and acts without principle, in hopes, by
lottery, to hit on a specific. This singular pas-
sage follows that last quoted :

" But whether this language, that bestowed at
first those names upon them, made any long stay
in those regions so remote from us, wherein it
has left some marks and footsteps of its once
being there ; or whether those first natives, and,
consequently, the original languages at the first
peopling of the world, after the universal deluge,
like the billows of the sea, justled and jumbled
out one another, cannot, indeed, be certainly
affirmed, though, on the consideration of the
passions of human nature, such a procedure
may appear very probable j yet it looks true,
upon very good grounds, that that language
which first came over to the Isle of Albion or
Great Britain, was the same that continued in it
for many ages after, and so, consequently, must
be the first language used and spoken in that part
of it called the Isle of Anglesey." p. 32, 33.

No doubt of it ; but Mr. Rowland draws the
most extraordinary conclusion from all this not-
withstanding the difficulties which he finds insur-

WELSH NOT CELTS. 347

mountable and inexplicable, still does his anxiety
to preserve for his country the reputation of
antiquity of residence and occupation, get the
better of his judgment and bewilder his imagina-
tion, in the teeth of his own powerful arguments
to the contrary, and his just conclusion " that the
people who gave names to the places in Wales
must have spoken the Irish language, and that
the Irish pirates, who in the ages comparatively
recent, came by stealth into the land, were
soon rooted and driven out ; so that they could
not much prejudice the former antient speech
here, (in Anglesey,) much less abolish it no
other nation ever attempted our expulsion ; the
Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, sought
only our submission, and had it, but never any of
them sought to disseminate and enforce their
language upon us."

Yet, in the face of the conviction of his mind,
and of all these impossibilities, Mr. Rowland
concludes thus " the Welsh, the language at this
time spoken in the Isle of Anglesey, and her
neighbouring countries, is that very language
brought in by her first inhabitants enlarged and
polished by the learned druids modulated and
sweetened by the antient bards, that no poetry
in the world is more various and artificial."

348 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

" Yet, though it should appear, beyond denial,
that this antient language should, and did, keep
perpetual residence, from first to last, in this
little island, it cannot be doubted but that in the
long space of some thousands of years, this lan-
guage, though never so complete and polished,
must very much alter in its mode and propriety
of speaking, according to the variety of times
and humours of the people, and so, like a conti-
nued river, take in many branches, and, proba-
bly, lose a few in its constant flux and current."

I will not adduce argument in answer to this
unsound logic, further than to observe, that if a
language be still spoken in which all these diffi-
culties vanish in which all the names of men,
places, and things, in Britain and Gaul, and even
in Wales itself, are clearly and distinctly intelli-
gible and the people, speaking that language,
bear the very name of those to whom the
antient buildings in Wales are attributed, by
the Welsh themselves can there remain a ra-
tional doubt, on any intelligent mind, that a
people speaking that language, must have given
names to those places, and have been the prece-
dent inhabitants of Wales to the Welsh ? That
nation, and that language, is the Irish, or, pro-
perly speaking, the Gael, or gaobJel, or gwddyl,

WELSH NOT CELTS. 349

of the Welsh. No change, arising from caprice,
could alter the construction of a language, or
render it totally different ; at all events, no such
change has occurred in the Irish.

An English translation of a selection from the
triads of the Cymbry, has been given to the
world, by the " Rev. Edward Davies, Rector of
Bishopstown, in the County of Glamorgan," in
a work called " Celtic Researches," published in
1804. These are supposed to be, and are put
forth as, the most antient and veritable authori-
ties for the support of real Welsh history. Mr.
Davies calls them druidical triads. Why druid-
ical, it is difficult to discover, as there appears in
them no internal evidence of druidic construc-
tion or doctrine.

But let us hear Mr. Davies " We find,
among the oldest Welsh M.SS. many historical
notices upon the model of the druidical triads,
purporting to be the remains of the druidical
ages.

" Their contents furnish, in my opinion, strong
evidence in support of their authenticity. I
cannot account for them at all upon other
grounds. Many collections of these triads are

350 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

preserved, at this day, in old copies, upon vel-
lum .

" I shall now lay before my reader a short
selection, translated from a series in the second
volume of Welsh Archeaology, p. 57- That
series bears the following title :

" These are triads of the Island of Britain
that is to say, triads of memorial and record, and
the information of remarkable men or things,
which have been in the island of Britain, and of
the events which befel the race of the Cymry, from
the age of ages.

" To the copy, from which a transcript was
made for the London edition, the following note .
is annexed :

Translation " These triads were taken from
the book of Caradoc of Nantgarvan, and from
the book of Jevan. Brechva, by rne, Thomas
Jones, of Tregaron, and these are all I could get
of the three hundred."*

* " Caradoc, of Nantgarvan, or Llangarvan, above men-
tioned, as the copyist of one of Jones's originals, lived about
the middle of the twelfth century. Jevan Brechva wrote
a compendium of the Welsh Annals down to 1150."

WELSH NOT CELTS. 35 1

" I. The three pillars of the race of the island
of Britain.

" The first, Hu Gadarn, who first brought the
race of Cyrmy into the island of Britain ; and
they came from the land of Hdv, called Defro-
bani, [where Constantinople stands,*] and
they passed over Mor Tawch,t [the German
ocean,] to the island of Britain, and to Llydaw,t
where they remained.

" The second was Prydain, the son of Aedd
Mawr, who first established regal government, in
the island of Britain. [Before this time there
was no equity, but what was done by gentleness,
nor any law but that of force.]

" The third, Dynwal Moelmud, who first dis-
criminated the laws and ordinances, customs
and privileges, of the land and of the nation.

* "The passages inclosed between hooks appear to be com-
ments upon the original triads, added by some ancient
copyists.

f " The Coritani lay upon Mor Tawch ; it was, therefore,
upon the east of Britain.

^ "Letavia, or Lexovia, the water side. The name is con-
fined, at this day, to the description of Britanny, but it co-
vered, antiently, the entire coast of Gaul."

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

[And for these reasons they were called the three
pillars of the nation of the Cymry.]

II. " The three benevolent tribes of Britain.

"The first were the stock of the Cymry, who
came with Hu Gadarn into the island of Bri-
tain, for Hu would not have lands by fighting
and contention, but of equity and in peace.

" The second were the race of the Lolegrwys,*
who came from the land of Gwas-gwyn, and was
sprung from the primitive stock of the Cymry.

The third were the Britons. They came from
the land of Llydaw, and were also sprung from
the primordial line of the Cymry.

[And they are called the three peaceful tribes,
because they came by mutual consent and per-
mission, in peace and tranquillity. The three
tribes descended from the primitive race of the

* " The dwellers about the Loire or Liger. Gwas Gwyn,
or Gwas Gwynt,.ihe country of the Veneti, about the mouth
of the Loire, and not Vasconia. It was the country to which
the Britons sent their fleet, in order to assist the Celtas of
Gaul, their relations, against Caesar. Triad 14."

WELSH TRIADS. 353

Cymry, and the three were of one language and
one speech.

" III. Three tribes came, under protection,
into the island of Britain ; and by consent, and
permission of the nation of the Cymry, without
weapon and without assault.

" The first was the tribe of the Caledonians
in the north.

" The second was the Gwyddelian race, which
are now in Alban. [Scotland.]

" The third were the men of Galedin, who
came in naked ships [canoes] into the Isle of
Wight, when their country was drowned,* and
had lands assigned them by the race of the
Cymry.

" And they had neither privilege nor claim
in the island of Britain, but the land and pro-

* " Strabo, Ivii., speaks of the removal, and of the disper-
sion of the Cimbri, in consequence of an inui^dation. This
tradition was preserved by the Cimbri of the Chersonesus ;
but the event must have happened when their ancestors
dwelled in a low country,"

A a

354 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

tection, that even granted under specified limits.
And it was decreed that they should not enjoy
the immunities of the native Cymry before the
ninth generation.

" IV. Three usurping tribes came into the
island of Britain, and never departed out of it.

" The first were the Coranied, who came from
the land of Pwyl.*

" The second were the Gwyddelian Fichti,
who came into Alban, over the sea of Llychlyn.
(Denmark.)

" The third were the Saxons.

" [The Coranied are about the river Humber,
and on the shore of Mor Tawch ; and the
Gwddelian Fichti are in Alban, on the shore of
the sea of Llychlyn. The Coranied united with

* " In page 78 it is added, ' Ac or Asia pan hanoeddynt.
And they originally came from Asia. Jones declared, 200
years ago, thq he copied the various readings, from which
this passage is taken, just as he found them in a copy which
was more than 600 years old in his time. See W. Arch,
v. 2. p. 80."

WELSH TRIADS. 3^,3

the Saxons, and, being partly incorporated with
them, deprived the Lolegrwys of their govern-
ment by wrong and oppression ; and, afterwards,
they deprived the race of the Cymry of their
crown and sovereignty . All the Lolegrwys be-
came Saxons, except those who are found in
Cornwall and in the commot of Carnoban in
Diem and Bernicia."

The remaining triads, which relate to the
wonders of the Cymry, are not necessary to be
recited here ; the foregoing supply us with what
purport to the traditions of the Welsh, as to their
ancestors, and the antient history of their tribes.

The first triad of Hu Gadarn, the mighty pro-
tector, Prydain, and Dynval Moelmud, are ap-
parently poetic personifications.

The second are the three benevolent tribes,
viz. the Cymry, Lolegrwys, and the Britons.

The Cymry, who, under Hu Gadarn, first
peopled Britain.

The Lolegrwys, who came from Gwas-gwyn.
Mr. Davies makes the country about the Loire
the country of the Veneti by which it may be

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

inferred, that he wishes us to understand the pre-
sent people of Britanny to be descendants of these
Lolegrwys.

The Britons, who came from the land of
Llydaw, which he says is Letavia, or Lexovia, the
water side, and states to be the coast of Britanny,
in other words, the Lolegrwys.

These are all edged to have been the only true
Cymry, who, according to the first article of the
first triad, came over the Mor Taw r ch the
Dutch or German sea a declaration, by the
way, of their German extraction.

There is some difficulty in defining the reason for
classing the Cymbri in three divisions. The
leading branch the Welsh, the governing
tribe, who are said to have kept their land and
language are made, after landing from the Ger-
man sea, to traverse the fine fertile portion of
the island, and fix the seat of government in
barren mountains, and the least desirable part
of their new settlement, leaving to the Lolegrwys
and the Britons all the plain country of Britain.
This appears rather improbable. The two latter
tribes are made the same, and are divided merely
to complete the conceit of a triad. The whole

WELSH TRIADS. 357

is evidently a fiction made up from the three
modern divisions of the Cy^bri, i. e. the Welsh,
Cornish, and Armoricans. It has been proved,
also, that the Welsh had not the land to keep,
though they have kept their language.

The third triad, of the tribes who came under
protection and permission of the nation of the
Cymry. The Caledonians, the Gwyddelian race
of Alban, and the men of Galedin, who came in
consequence of their country being drowned.
We are told they were not of the Cymry. The
first have been proved to have spoken Welsh ;
the second are the Irish of the highlands of
Scotland, the third Mr. Davies supposes to have
come from the Cimbric Chersonesus.

The fourth triad of three usurping tribes,
the Coranied, the Gwyddelian Fichti, and the
Saxons. The first are intended to represent the
Coritani.

The second, the Picts, whom the triad brings
from Denmark, will be proved to have spoken
Welsh, consequently they were Cymbri. Of the
Saxons it is unnecessary to enlarge.

Impressed with an anxious desire, if possible,

358 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

to discover some solidity and foundation in these
triads, and a wish U> give them a qualified cre-
dence, hoping to discover in them some ground
of their formation in truth, some general tra-
dition which, though obscured, is grounded in
facts, I carefully considered them, but I am coerced
into the conclusion, that they are a clumsy mo-
dern fiction, with as little foundation in truth as
Geoffrey of Monmouth.

I have great reluctance in troubling the reader
with further remarks upon the specious, but un-
sound, speculations of Mr. Davies, but it might
be suppposed I did that gentleman injustice ; I,
therefore, insert a few paragraphs, that the reader
may judge for himself.

" The Gauls and Britons were originally one
people. The sons of Gaulish families came to Bri-
tain for education. In both countries the disciples
of Druidism, learnt the same antient forms, and
studied the same oral maxims. The Druids of
Britain and Gaul could, therefore, have differed
but little in their language.

" But in so large a country, as the jurisdiction
of Druidism, there must have been shades of pe-
culiarity, amongst the vernacular idioms of the

WELSH TRIADS. 359

populace, and the Armorican, or Celto-galatian
language, in the days of Caesar, appears to have
differed from the Welsh, much in the same degree
as at present."

It has been established that the real Celto-gala-
tian bore just as much resemblance to the
Welsh, as the present Irish to that language ; the
two languages contain a few terms of similar
sound and import, which, from neighbourhood
and intercourse, they have borrowed from each
other, but no more, while the same language is
identical with the Irish in every particular.

In another paragraph, (p. 211,) Mr. Davies
says, quoting the triads :

" The Celtic nation, at large, may be regarded
as comprizing a race of two different characters,
though sprung from the same family.

" The one sort, were those who took peace-
able possession of a country, which had never been
previously inhabited, where they supported the
character, ascribed in history, to the antient Hy-
perboreans, establishing a national religion, the
best calculated for securing peace among them-
selves ; but which, till it was gradually changed

360 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

by political necessities, rendered its votaries in-
competent for the defence of their country, or
the support of their national independence.

" The other sort were a people who had less
scruple in their principles, but who having been
inured habitually to arms, before they approached
the west, and confiding in their native prowess,
forced their way into many possessions of their
unresisting brethren.

" In the Welsh, the Armorican, and the Cor-
nish, undisputed votaries ofDruidism, we recog-
nize the former of these two branches, and the
latter in the Irish, or in the Highlanders. It is
not at all necessary to suppose, that, when these
people established themselves, the others were
either extirpated, or entirely removed. They
seem in several parts, to have amicably incor-
porated."

Again, p. 233 " I would not be understood
as meaning that our Welsh came into the pos-
sessions of a different family who spoke the Irish
language ; but I do mean, and represent that
many of the simple primitives formerly possessed
by them, and still preserved by the Irish, have
been generally disused, though occurring in the

WELSH TRIADS. 36l

oldest writers, and in the derivation or compound
of their present language. The case with the
Irish is exactly parallel. Many words that are
marked as obsolete in their glossaries, are still
understood by the common people in Wales.

" Both of the nations, then, have thrown aside
a part of their antient stores ; but as the Irish
retain a more ample number of simple terms,
than we do, and as the several tribes which use
this dialect, or those connected with it, were not
completely received into the pale of British Druid-
ism, it may, I think, be inferred, that the Irish,
after we have discarded its eastern, and such
other adventitious terms, as cannot be derived
from its native roots, presents the most accurate
copy of the Celtic in its original and primitive
state, in the same manner as the Welsh does that
of the cultivated or Druidical Celtic."

How contradictory, if not absurd, these sen-
tences appear. The writer seems to feel that
the original and primitive language of the Celtse
was the same precisely as the Irish ; he not only
does not deny, but asserts it, but still unaccount-
ably insinuates, that the language of Wales is
the Druidic Celtic ; and although the inhabitants
of Wales and all Britain spoke the same at the

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

time of the Romans, who by the way, soon abo-
lished the order of the Druids throughout their
whole dominion, and consequently in Wales, yet,
since that period, the language has been purified
and polished by these British Druids, after their
order had been abolished ! and so changed as to
be totally unlike the original ; while the Irish,
among whom the order of the Druids continued
for centuries after they had been suppressed in
Britain, and where this same author represents
them to have retired after having been driven out
of Britain, are represented as " not completely
received into the pale of British Druidism !" al-
though they yet speak the only language which
can be proved to have been used by the Druids.
The Welsh triads are modern fictions, grounded
on the more antient fabrications of Geoffrey of
Monmouth, and are totally unworthy of credit as
muniments of British history.

Whitaker's History of Manchester, excited
considerable interest, but, with the exception of
his observations on Watling-street, there is no-
thing in it to justify his reputation. He saw, in-
deed, the anomalies in the early history of the
Britons, and the difficulties in which it was in-
volved, but he knew not how to explain the
one or remove the other. His guesses and

WHITAKER. 363

surmises having no solid foundation, are as er-
roneous as those of his predecessors. The fol-
lowing remarks on Watling-street, although in-
genious, are very inaccurate.

" From the joint testimony of Richard's Itine-
rary, and Bede's History, it appears that the Ro-
man road from Sandwich to Caernarvon, was dis-
tinguished, among the Romans, by the British
name of Guetheling or Watling-street. This has
been hitherto supposed to be not the original,
but a posterior name, and has long baffled all the
analytical powers of etymology. But it is plainly
derived, as Dr. Stukely formerly conjectured it to
be, from the same principle which gave name to
the Ikening-street. Both were denominated
from the people to whom they were carried, the

latter confessedly from the Iceni^aLthe eastern -$

j ^_

coast. So the Watling-street imports that the
road which led to the Gatheli, or Guetheli, of Ire-
land. And this British appellation of the road
among the Romans, attests it to have been pre-

viously a British road. The Guetheling, or Wat-
ling-street, must have originally been denomi-
nated by the Britons Sarn Guethelin, or the road
of the Irish."

Mr. Whitaker has here guessed nearly but not

364 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

precisely the meaning of the name. The true
meaning is the street or road made by the
Gael, or Gwydhell, not of, or leading to, the
Irish. He was not aware that the Britons were
Gael, or he would have seen the true meaning.
This road was made, no doubt, long before the
arrival of the Romans, and is another unanswer-
able proof that the Britons had advanced in civi-
lization far beyond the state of barbarism which
has been so inconsiderately allotted to them. Sarn
is not a British but Welsh word ; and if ever the
Watling-street was called Sarn Guethelin, it must
have been at a later period. Mr. Whitaker says,
" both (Watling and the Ikening-street,) must
have been begun by the Belgse of the Southern
countries. The Belgse were strongly actuated
by commercial spirit, &c." This is at variance
with the evidence of Csesar, and indeed of Tacitus,
and all others ; the Belgse and their kindred tribes
of Germany were more warlike, but less civilized
than the Gauls, or Celtae, and are designated as
lazy and slothful, while the Celtse are always de-
cribed as very industrious, and ardently addicted
to commercial pursuits.

The fact of the Celtic Britons being Gael, is
quite conclusive of the road being made by them,
besides the Belgse were possessed only of incon-

WHITAKE'R. 365

siderable patches of the coast, and were recently
settled there in the time of Caesar. Thus, all
Mr. Whitaker's speculations on the progress of
commerce among the Belgse of Britain falls to the
ground. He seems to have thought the separate
tribes to have been different people ; when he
talks of the Cantii rivalling the Durotriges in
commerce, in Caesar's day, he did not know they
were but tribes of the same nation, and their local
position alone gave them advantages for trade over
each other. Mr. Whitaker made great exertions
to elucidate antient British history, but still he
left the question as unsettled as he found
it. He talks of the irruption of the Carnabii,
and the invasion of the Brigantes, &c. &c. which
was all gratuitous speculation, they were but
tribes of the same nation, whose names were
terms either to express their residence, descent,
or peculiar circumstances. In p. 147, he says :
" There appears to have been two nations in Bri-
tain, distinguished by the one denomination of
Uiccii, Uices, or Vices. The name of Ic, Uc, or
Vic, signifies a brave people. This, therefore,
was naturally a popular name among the military
nations of the Celtae. Thus we find Aulerci
Euberovices, the Aulerci Brannovices, and the
Leomovices in Gaul. And thus we find the Huic-

366 THE GAEL AND CYMfiRI.

cii, or Vices, and the Ord-uices, or Or do- vices, in
Britain." Mr. Whitaker does not favour us with
the language in which Vices means a brave
people.

This is another instance of the utter impossi-
bility of ascertaining the true etymology of names
given by any people, without first ascertaining
the language that people spoke. Mr. Whitaker
supposed the Welsh to have been the antient
British, and having got on a wrong road, his wan-
derings were, and could not be otherwise than
erroneous, fanciful, and ridiculous.

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COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE WELSH AND
IRISH LANGUAGES.

CHAPTER XI.

Irish Article.

In Gaelic there is but one article, <xn the, as
<xn jre/i the man an bean, the woman.

Welsh.

There are two articles in the Welsh language,
Y, and YR, but they both mean the, and are used
differently, merely for euphony's sake.

Irish Verbs.

Gaelic Verbs have but one conjugation.
There are three tenses, present, preterite and
future. The auxiliary verb, beJc, to be.

I am. t^iDaJb, we are.

, thou art. t^ta), ye are.

, he is. t:3Jt>, they are.

368 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

t;^ me, I am. t& f)i), we are.
t& tu, thou art. t& ^Jb, ye are.
t^ ^e, he is. t3 ^Jcxb, they are.

7mA Infinitivf Mood.

bo beJc, or 01 beJr, to be.

Participles.

Present <X beJt, being 1 .
Past J<x/t no-bejc, having been.
Future dtytj beJt, about to be.

Welsh f^erbs.

There are two classes of verbs, intransitive
and the transitive.

Welsh Infinitive Mood.

bod, to be, to exist.
bod 9 to be bu, was bi, is to be.
byz, is to be, will be.
yw, ydyw, ydi, is oes, there is.
oez ydoezy was sy> syz, is.
mae, is, there is ys 9 is ydys, the action going
on.

IRISH AND WELSH COMPARED. 869

bod, wedi myned, to be after going-, to have
gone.

dad, mynediad yn, au, yn myned, going.

yn bod, bwyad, being.

adwy, mynedadwy, being to go ; capable of
going.

bodadwy, going to be ; capable of being.

Perfect edig, mynededig, wedi myned, gone.

bodedig, endued with being.

wedi bod, having been.

Irish Indicative Mood.

I go.

thou goest.
ce)b f&, he goeth.
ceJbm)t), we go.
ye go.
, they go.

Welsh.

awyv I go, or am going.
awyt thou goest, or art going.
ayw he goest, or is going.
aym we go, or he is going.

a y9 y e ^> or are g m s-

awynt they go, or are going.

370 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Irish Imperative.

JmcJ j, go thou.

JnotJgetxb fe, let him go.

JmtJjJmty% JnotJ groJb, JmtrJ jeab ^)nn, let us go.

JmtJge, or JnotJ geab ^Jb go ye.

Jmt-JgbJ^- or JnotJ jeab ^Jab let them go.

Welsh.

awyv let me go.
a go thou.
tied let him go.
awn let us go.
ewq go ye.
dent let them go.

Irish Relative.
teJbe;", that goes.

Preterite.

cu<xb<*/-, I went.

, thou went.
, he went.
ccmro<x/i. we went.
cu<xBa/t, ye went.

, they went ; or,
me, tu, ^, I, thou, he, &c.

IRISH AND WELSH COMPARED

Welsh.
Perfect tense.

ais I have gone.
aist thou hast gone.
aes he has gone.
aesam we have gone.
aesag ye have gone.
aesant they have gone.

Irish Future.

;t<xcpxb, or fiactab, I will go.
;i<xccJ/i, thou wilt go.
, he will go.
, or ;t<i.c<xm, we will go.
ye will go.
;iaca7b, they will go ; or,
, tii, &c.

Welsh.
First future.

av I will go.
ai thou wilt go.
a he will go.

we will go.
q ye will go.
diit they will go.

B b 5

372 THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Second future.

aov I shall have gone.
dot thou shalt have gone.
do he shall have gone.
dom we shall have gone.
doz ye shall have gone.
tiont they shall have gone.

Irish Negative of the present tense Indicative
t v) t&Jj)m, I do not go, &c.

The subjunctive Mood is the same as the Indi-
cative, prefixing m<J, if, to each person.

Present no^ tejgjm, if I go.
, &c. &c.

cr<xb<x^.

e. m cr<xb<xb<x/i.

Future m^ /Kicjrab. m^ ;-uxcj:a*D<xoJb.

Relative.
, that doth not go.

IRISH AND WELSH COMPARED. 373

Preterite.

nj beaca/% I did not go.

n] beacaJ;-, thou didst not go.

nj beacaJb f&, he did not go.

nj beacama/i, we did not go.

/7j beacaba/i, ye did not go.

flj beac aba/i, they did not go ; or,

nj beacaJb no^, &c.

Relative.
nac nbe<xc<x)b, that did not go.

Future.
r>1 ^<xcj:<xb, as in the indicative.

Relative,
c /tacaJb, that will not go.

Conditional Mood.

Preterite.

, I would go.
jiacjra, thou wouldst go.
;iacj:ab ^-, he would go.
jtacjrama);-, we would go.

, ye would go.

, they would go.

37k THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

Relative.
b, that would go.

Past Consuetudinal.

, I used to go.
atu, thou usedst to go.
e, he used to go.
, we used to go.
teJbJbe, ye used to go. .
, they used to go.

Relative.
b, that used to go.

Infinitive.
b'Jmte<xct, bo brl, to go.

Present Participle.
<X brl, going.

Past. Future.

Mjt orl, having gone. 4 ^ krl, about to go.

Welsh.

The subjunctive, optative, and potential moods,
have a common form with the indicative, so far
as regards the inflections. They are formed by
the aid of auxiliary words, as in the English, by
adverbs and conjunctions.

IRISH AND WELSH COMPARED.

Impersonal conjugation of primitive verbs,

tier be there going.
eler be there going off.
aid there was going.
dethid there was a going.
ciesid there was a gone.
ozid there was a going on.
awyd, or aeihwyd, or atliwyd ezwide there
has been a going.

dethasia, or athasid there had been a going.
air there 'will be a going.

Irish Nouns.
Genders.

In Irish the genders are two, masculine and
feminine.

Welsh Nouns.
Genders.

In Welsh the genders are three, masculine, fe-
minine, and neuter.

Irish Numbers.

There are but two numbers in the Irish lan-
guage, singular and plural.

Welsh.

There are three numbers in the Welsh, sin-
gular, dual, void plural.

THE GAEL AND CYMBRI.

The plural is formed two ways by the inflection
of their vowels and by terminations, but all sub-
stantives may have their plurals formed by ter-
minations.

Irish Declensions.

The formation of cases depend on the last
vowel of the nominative. The cases are five, no-
minative, genitive, dative, accusative, and voca-
tive, as

Singular. Plural.

<x/7 b^/ib, the poet. na b^j^b, the poets.

<xn MJ/tb, of the poet. n<x rob^ftb, of the poets,
bon rob^/ib, to the poet, bo n<x b-fybaJb, to the poets,
an b^fytb, the poet. TKX b^/iba, the poets.

<x b&J/ib, o poet. <x b/ib<x, o poets.

Welsh.

The substantives undergo no changes or in-
flexions, therefore the Welsh has no declensions
or cases.

Irish Pronouns.

Simple. Emphatic.

me, I, me. m^e, myself.

tu, thou. trpx, thyself.

fe, he. /-ej^ean, himself.

IRISH AND WELSH COMPARED. 377

Simple. Emphatic.

/-Jb or )b, ye or you. f)bf& or Jfy-e, yourself.

e, he, or him. Jb, o ye.

<x, his. ej^ean, himself.

f), or, 7, she. p//~J, herself.

<x, hers. Jf J, herself.

Simple. Emphatic.

wit, v?', z, ym I, me. myvi, myself.

ni, we, us. nyni^ ourselves.

ninnau, I also. myvinnau^ myself also.

nynnau, we also. nyninnau, ourselves also.

ti 9 thou. tydi) thyself.

$wi, you. $y$wi> yourselves.

tithau, thou also. tydithau, thyself also.

ftaithau, you. qyqwithau, yourselves also.

ev, he him. eve, he himself.

hwynt, they. hwyntwy, themselves.

hwyntau, they also, hwythau^ they also.
hi, she, her. hyhi, herself.

hithan, she also. hyhythan, herself also.

hwy, they. hwynt, they, them.
hwythau, they also.
hwyntwy, they themselves.

THE GAEL AND CYMBK1.

e. it.
vo. it.
o. it.

evo. itself.
nhw, they.
nwythan, they also.
nhwy^ they.
yz, them.

The difference in the construction of the Irish
and Welsh languages, here exhibited, is sufficient
of itself to demonstrate that the origin of the
two nations could not have been the

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THE CYMBRI.

In the first chapter it was suggested that the
Welsh, Cornish, and Armoricans, or the people
of Britanny, should be separated from Bishop
Percy's Celtic Pedigree, and formed into a distinct
genealogy for the Cimbric nation. Much testimony
has been already adduced to prove the Cymbri
were not Celts ; the object of the present chapter
is to produce evidence and argument to shew
who they were. It may be as well to repeat the
Cimbric pedigree.

The Cimbri, a nation from the north of
Europe, who inhabited Jutland, or
the Cimbric Chersonesus.

The Caledonian Cymbri, The Cimbri, who invad-

who first peopled the British ed Gaul, and were destroyed

Islands, afterwards called by Marius. A. A. c. 103.
Picts.

Welsh.

The Welsh. Cornish. Armoricans,

or Bretons.

380 THE CYMBRI.

The Bishop of Dromore, in his Preface to
Mallet's Northern Antiquities, says :

" Before I quit this subject of the Gothic or
Teutonic languages, I must observe, that the old
Scandinavian tongue is commonly called the
CIMBRIC, or CIMBRO-GOTHIC, as it was the dialect
which chiefly prevailed among the Gothic tribes,
who inhabited the CIMBRICA CHERSONESUS, &c.
But whether the antient CIMBRI, and their con-
federates, the TEUTONES, who made the irrup-
tion into the Roman Empire, in the time of
Marius, were a CELTIC or a GOTHIC people, may,
perhaps, admit of some disquisition.

" They who contend that they were Celts,
may urge the resemblance of the name of Cimbri
to that of Cymry> by which the Britons have
always called themselves in their own language.
They may also produce the authority of Appian,
who expressly calls the Cimbri CELTS, as well as
of several of the Roman authors, who scruple
not to name them GAULS.* It may further be

* "Appianus in Illyricis, Cimbros Celtas addito quos
Cimbros vacant, appellavit. Et evolve Florum Lib. III. cap.
3. Sallustium Bell. Jugurth. in fine. Rufum Brev. Cap. VI.
qui omnes Cimbros diserte Gallos et ab extremis Galliae
profugos nominarunt." Speneri Nobitia Germanise Antiques.
Hal. Magd. 1717 4to. p. 123.

CYMBRI NOT CELTS. 381

observed, in favour of this opinion, that the
emigration of so large a body of the old Celtic
inhabitants would facilitate the invasion of the
Gothic tribes who succeeded them in these
northern settlements, and will account for the
rapid conquests of Odin and his Asiatic fol-
lowers. It might also be conjectured, that the
small scattered remains of these old Celtic
Cimbri, were the savage men, who lurked up
and down in the forests and mountains, as de-
scribed by the antient Icelandic historians, and
who, in their size and ferocity, so well corres-
pond with the descriptions given us of their
countrymen that invaded the Roman Empire.
Thus far such an opinion is equally consistent
both with the Roman and northern historians."

These are the arguments in favour of the
Celtic origin of the Cimbri. The first and
strongest is removed by proving that the antient
Britons never called themselves Cimbri, and that
the Welsh who did were not the antient Britons
of Caesar's day. The observations of Appian,
and other Roman writers, are answered by the ^J
Bishop, and the emigration of the Cimbri being
caused by an inundation from the ocean, as stated
by Florus, and the gigantic savages of the woods, S4+*$-
are applicable to either hypothesis. But to pro-
ceed with the Bishop's arguments.

/JfX*

382 THE CYMBRI.

" On the other hand, that the Cimbri of
Marius were not a Celtic but a German or
Gothic people, is an opinion that may be sup-
ported with no slight arguments. On this head
it may be observed, with our author M. Mallet,
* that the antients generally considered this peo*
pie a branch of the Germans,' and that their tall
stature, and general character, rather corresponds
with the description of the Germans than of the
Celts. That as for the name of Cimbri ', or Clinker,
it is resolvable into a word in the German lan-
guage, which signifies WARRIOR or WARLIKE.^ And

* " Germanis quidem Camp exercitum aut locum ubi
exercitus castra metatur significat ; inde ipsis vir castrensis
militSirisKemfferetKempher, et Kemper, et Kimber, etKamper,
pro varietate dialectorum vocatur ; vocabulum hoc nostro
(sc Anglico) sermone nondum penitus exolevit ; Norfolcien-
ses enim plebio et proletario sermone dicunt." He is a
Kemper old man. " i. e. Senex vegetus est." Sheringhani,
p. 57. See also Kemperye Man, in the reliques of antient
English poetry. Vol. 1. p. 70.

Sheringhani afterwards adds, " Illud anteni hoc loco
omittendum non est, Cimbros quoque a proceritate coporis
hoc nomen habere potuisse. Kimber enim alia significatione
hominem gigantea corporis mole praeditum designat.
Danico hodie idiomate (inquit Pontanus in additam ad
Hist. Dan. lib. I. Kimber sive Kempe et Kemper non bel-
latorum tantum, sed proprie Gigantem notat." Sheringhani
p. 58. From hence it should seem, that a gigantic person
was called Kimber^ from his resemblance to the antient

CYMBRI NOT CELTS. 383

that the authorities of the Roman historians can-
not much be depended on, because (as had been
before observed) they were seldom exact in the
names they gave the barbarous nations. It may
further be urged, that the facility with which the
Cymbri made their way through Germany into
Gaul, renders it probable that they were rather
a branch of the German people, than of a race
at constant enmity with them, like the Celts, and
who upon that account, would have been opposed
in their passage ; especially as the Germans ap-
pear, in these countries, rather to have prevailed
over the Celts, and to have forced them west-
ward, driving them out of many of their settle-
ments. But lastly, if the Cymbri had been a
Celtic people, then such of them as were left
behind in their own country, and were after-
wards swallowed up among the succeeding Gothic
tribes who invaded Scandinavia, would have given
a tincture of their Celtic language to that branch

Cimbri, rather than this people were called Cimbri, from
their gigantic size. So that this favours the opinion that the
Cimbri were a different race from the antient Danes, c.
Because no nation would think of calling themselves giants,
for if they were all uniformly gigantic, there could appear
nothing to themselves remarkable in their size ; whereas this
would strike another people as a primary and leading dis-
tinction.

384 THE CYMBRI.

of the Teutonic which was spoke in these coun-
tries ; or, at least, we should have found more
Celtic names of mountains, rivers, &c. in the
Cimbric Chersonese, than in other Gothic set-
tlements. But I do not find that either of these
is the case ; the old Icelandic seems to be as free
from any Celtic mixture, as any other Gothic
dialect ; nor is there any remarkable prevalence
of Celtic names in the peninsula of Jutland,
more than in any part of Germany, where, I
believe, its former Celtic inhabitants have, up
and down, left behind them a few names of
places, chiefly of natural situations, as of rivers,
mountains, &c. This, at least, is the case in
England ;* where, although the Britons were so
entirely extirpated, that scarce a single word of
the Welsh language was admitted by the Saxons,
and although the names of the towns and villages
are almost universally of Anglo-Saxon deriva-
tion, yet the hills, forests, rivers, &c. have gene-
rally retained their old Celtic names.

" But whether the old Cimbri were Celts or
Goths ; yet forasmuch, as from the time of Odin,
both the Cimbrica Chersonesus, and all the neigh-

* I have not been able to discover any Celtic names in
Jutland.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 385

bouring regions, were become entirely Gothic
settlements, the Gothic dialect which prevailed
in these countries is called, by antiquaries, Cy ru-
bric, and Cymbro Gothic. It is also sometimes
called old Icelandic, because many of the best
writers in it came from Iceland, and because the
Cymbric has been more perfectly preserved in
that island than in any other settlement. To the
old original mother tongue of all the Gothic
dialects, it has been usual (after Yerstegan) to
give the name of Teutonic, not so much from
the Teutones, or Teutoni, who inhabited the
Danish islands, and were brethren of the Cymbri,
as from its being the antient Tuytsh, the lan-
guage of Tuisto and his votaries, the great fa-
ther and deity of the German tribes."

*

Humphrey Lloyd, who, in his Breviary of
Britain, published by Lewis at the end of his
History of Britain, gives us testimony to establish
the identity of the Cymbri with the Cimbri. He
was a most zealous, and even a prejudiced Welsh-
man one who sacrificed every other feeling to
his love of country. He says :

" The inhabitants of this region are called, in
their mother tongue, Cymbri. In which word
the force of the sound of the letter B is scarcely

c c

386 THE CYMBRI.

perceived in pronouncing. And it is very likely
that this was the most antient name, and that
Cambria, a region of England, was, thereof, so
called.

" When I perceived that the Cymbri, which
fought so many bloody battles with Romans,
were called by the same, name, it carne into my
mind to enquire and search what good writers
have thought of the beginning of that nation.
And having read much thereof, I am so per-
suaded that I dare avouch that it was this our
British nation. First, the name is all one with
ours ; then their tongue, which is a very great
argument. For Plinius, in his fourth book, and
thirteenth chapter, saith, that Philemon was
called, by the Cymbri, Mori Marussium, that is
to say, Mare Mortuum ; the dead sea, unto the
promontory, Rubeas, &c. And our country-
men calls the dead sea, in their language, Mor
Maru, whereby it is manifest they were the same
people with us.
3 J <: '-

" Moreover, Plutarchus, in his life of Marius,
affirmeth, that they departed out of a far coun-
try, and that it was not known whence they came,
nor whither they went, but, like clouds, they is-
sued into France and Italy with the Almayns.

WELSH NOT CELTS. 387

Whereupon the Romans supposed that they had
been Germans, because they had big bodies, with
sharp and horrible eyes. So much he. Since
then he hath left their original unknown ; and
our Chronicles do testify, how that the Britaynes
bad always great familiarity with the northern
Germans, as it is like enough that the British
Cymbri passed over into Denmark,' whereby it
was called Cymbrica, and so, joining with the
Almayns, made war upon the Romans, &c. &c.
And to confirm all this, 1 read late, in a most
antient fragment, in the British tongue, how that,
long since, there departed a very great army of
Britayns into Denmark, wbicb, after many va-
liant wars, in most parts of the worlde, never re-
turned again.

" But whereas divers do affirme, that these
were the indwellers of the Danish Chersonesus ;
hereby it appeareth false, that the Danes long
before that time possessed that lande, as their his-
tories do declare. Neither is there any Danish
or Swedish writer that ever made mention of
the Cymbri. Other some affirme that they
descended of the inhabitants of the Cimmerian
Bosphorus. But neither the names, neither their
manners, neither their king's names, doo agree.
Which if you respect, ours, they are all one. For

c c 2

388 THE CYMBRI.

Clodic, Lhes, Bel, Lud, Thudfach, Berich, by
which the Kings of the Cymbri were called, be
very common names among the Britayns."

The Welsh call themselves Cymbri, as a name
attached to their descent, not to the country they
inhabit, and the generic denomination of their
race. Cumberland, one of their first conquests
from the Roman province, after passing the wall,
was so called by the Saxons, as the land of the
Cymbri, the Welsh y having the same power as
the English u in Cumberland.

The perfect identity of the name, with that
of the Cymbri of the Roman writers, indicates,
at least, the probability that they were the ances-
tors of the Cymbry, and there are not wanting
authorities in support of this hypothesis.

Florus (lib. III. c. 8) gives the following ac-
count of these people :

" The Cymbri , the Teutones, and the Tigu-
rini,* flying from their own country, at the extre-
mity of Germany, in consequence of an inunda-

* These were Celts of Helvetia.

FLORUS. 389

twn of the ocean, sought new possession over the
whole world, and being repulsed from Gaul and
Spain, as they were returning towards Italy, they
sent ambassadors to the camp of Silanus, and
afterwards to the senate, desiring that the warlike
Romans would assign them a country as payment,
and they then might command their services in
arms. Their tender being rejected, they re-
solved to obtain by force what was refused to their
entreaty, and determined on invading Italy.
Marius, the Roman General, first attacked the
Teutones, and entirely destroyed them, and cap-
tured their king, Theutobocchus ; he then pur-
sued the Cimbri, who had penetrated into the
Venetian territory, where he attacked them, and
slew 140,000. Their wives, afterwards, who
were with their baggage, fought with desperate
determination, from their carts and waggons ;
when they were refused the privilege of re-
maining single, first killed their children, and
either fell by each others hands, or hung them-
selves to trees, by ropes made of their own hair.
Their king, Beleus, fell fighting gallantly in the
field."

The expulsion of the Teutones and Cymbri,
by the Gauls, is adverted to in the speech of
Crigtonitus, in the third chapter ; and this pas-

390 THE CYMBRI.

sage of Florus fixes the period to be about,
A. U. C. 651, A. A. C. 99, and indicates that
they were not Gauls. Tacitus says :

" In the same northern part of Germany, we
find the Cimbri on the margin of the ocean, a
people at present of small consideration, though
their glory can never die. Monuments of their
former strength and importance, are still to be
seen on either shore. Their camps and lines of
circumvallation are not yet erased. From the
extent of ground which they occupied, you may
even now form an estimate of the force and re-
sources of the state, and the account of their
grand army, which consisted of such prodigious
numbers, seem to be verified. It was in the year
of Rome, 640, in the consulship of Csecilius Me-
tellus, and Papirius Carbo, that the arms of the
Cimbri first alarmed the world. If from that pe-
riod we reckon to the second consulship of the
emperor Trajan, we shall find a space of near
210 years : so long has Germany stood at bay
with Rome ! In the course of so obstinate a strug-
gle, both sides have felt alternately the several
blows of fortune, and the worst calamities of war.
Not the Samnite, nor the republic of Carthage
nor Spain, nor Gaul, nor the Parthian has given
such frequent lessons to the Roman people. The

TACITUS. 391

power of the Arsacidae was riot so formidable as
German liberty. If we except the slaughter of
Crassus and his army, what has the east to boast
of? Their own commander, Pacorres, was cut
off, and the whole nation humbled by the victory
of Ventidius. The Germans can recount their
triumphs over Carbo, Cassius, Scaurus Aurelius,
Servilius Csepio, and Cneius Manlius, all defeated
or taken prisoners. With them the republic lost
five consular armies ; and since that time, in the
reign of Augustus, Varus perished with his three
legions. Caius Marius, it is true, defeated the
Germans in Italy, Julius Caesar made them retreat
from Gaul, and Drusus Tiberius, and Germa-
nicus, overpowered them in their own country ;
but how much blood did these victories cost us
The mighty projects of Caligula ended in a ridi-
culous farce. From that period an interval of
peace succeeded, till roused by the dissentions of
Rome, and the civil wars that followed they
stormed our legions in their winter quarters, and
even planned the conquest of Gaul, Indeed we
forced them to pass the Rhine ; but from that
time what has been our advantage? We have
triumphed, and Germany is still unconquered."*

Murphy s Tacitus, vol. vii. 53, 54.

THE CYMBRI.

Such is the splendid character given by an
enemy of the brave and indomitable Cimbri and
the German nations in general. Mr. Murphy
gives the following note on the Cimbri. .

" The Cimbri inhabited the Peninsula, which
after their name was called the Cimbric, Cherso-
nesus, and is now Jutland, including Sleswic and
Holstein. In the consulship of Caecilius Me-
tellus, and Papirius Carbo, A. U. C. 640, about
111 years before the Christian era, this people,
in conjunction with the Teutones, made an irrup-
tion into Gaul, and having spread terror and de-
vastation through the country, resolved to push
the conquest into Italy. They sent a deputation
to the senate, demanding an allotment of lands,
and in return promising fidelity. It appears in
the epitome of Livy Ixv. that the senate having
refused to enter into any compromise with such
bold invaders, the new consul, Marcus Silanus,
marched against him. The Cimbri stormed his
intrenchments, pillaged his camp, and put almost
the whole of his army to the sword. This vic-
tory was followed by the defeat of three more
Roman generals, who lost their camp and had
their armies cut to pieces. Florus does not hesi-
tate to say, that Rome was on the brink of de-
struction, had there not existed, in that age, a

TACITUS. 393

Marius, to redeem the Roman name. That offi-
cer had triumphed over Jugurtha, and his mili-
tary skill was equal to his valour. He gave bat-
tle to the Teutones, at the foot of the Alps, near
the place then called Aquae Sextae, (now Aix, in
Provence,) and gained a complete victory. Livy
says, (Epitome Ixviii.) that no less than 200,000
of the enemy were slain in the action. The
whole nation perished. Florus adds, that their
king, Theutobochus, was taken prisoner, and in
the triumph of Marius, his immense stature,
towering above the heaps of warlike trophies,
exhibited to the Roman people an astonishing
spectacle. The Cimbri, in the mean time,
passed over the Alps, and made a descent into
Italy. They penetrated as far as the banks of
Adige, and having passed that river, in spite of
Catullus Luctatius, the Roman general, spread a
general panic through the country. They halted
near the Po, and sent to Marius, a second time,
demanding a place for their habitation. Marius
answered, that 'their brethren, the Teutones,
already possessed more than they desired, and
that they would not easily quit what had been
assigned to them.' Enraged by that taunting
raillery, the Cimbri prepared for a decisive ac-
tion. Florus says, that their vigour was relaxed
by the soft clime of Italy. The battle was fought,

394 THE CYMBUI.

according' to Florus, at a place called Randium,
on the east side of the river Lessites, which runs
from the Alps Graiae, and falls into the Po. If
we may believe Livy, Florus, and Plutarch, in
the life of Marius, above 140,000 of the Cimbri
perished in the engagement."

The account given of the Caledonians, by the
same writer, in the Life of Agricola, exhibit a
strong resemblance between that people and the
Cyinbri.

The radical difference existing between the
Welsh and Irish languages was well known to
Lhuyd and Rowland, who felt and admitted it,
but wanted nerve openly to declare their convic-
tion of that important fact. They were fully
sensible that its promulgation would destroy all
the cherished and darling pretensions of their
country ; and, therefore, with a cowardice or
subserviency, unworthy of their high character,
endeavoured to smooth over the surface, and hide
the defect, by special pleading, and specious ex-
pedients. Lhuyd, in order to conceal the flaw
in their title to a Celtic origin, took, as before
alluded to, the extraordinary precaution of pub-
lishing his opinion in the Welsh language, per-
fectly certain that his own countrymen were too

CALEDONIANS. 395

much devoted to their supposed traditional history
to expose it. Rowland endeavours, by a species
of frivolous and trifling arguments, even below
contempt, to account for a total and radical
change in the construction of the Welsh lan-
guage, since the Roman conquest, by the agency
of the Druids, an order of men who had ceased
to exist, for they were abolished in Britain as
soon as the Roman sway was well established.

Mr. Roberts, alone, of all his countrymen,
honestly declared what he knew to be true, that
there is 110 affinity whatever between the two
languages ; but he did so, evidently, with the
apprehension of exciting against him the national
prejudices and animosity of his countrymen.
However, even he, it would seem, did not con-
template or see the consequences of the establish-
ment of that truth, but adheres to the fabulous
history of Geoffrey with a Welshman's warmth
and tenacity.

The Bishop of Droinore saw the incongruity
of the idea, that two specimens of the Pater
Noster, so different in construction as the Gaelic
and Welsh, could ever have proceeded from
the game source, but conceded to the opinions
which learned antiquaries had long received as

396 THE CYMBRI.

unquestionable truth, having its origin in the
frauds and forgeries of Geoffrey of Monmouth,
and Walter, his coadjutor bolstered and kept up
by the subsequent fabrication of the Triads
supported by all the Welsh writers, and en-
trenched in national vanity and credulity. It
was, therefore, a subject which no Welshman
dare approach ; like the dogmas of the church,
it must be received without doubt or investigfa-

o

tion, on pain of the severest censure. To ques-
tion the truth of the Welsh received tradition,
was nearly equal in culpability to doubting Holy
Writ. No Welshman had yet ventured to pro-
ceed so far. Mr. Roberts knocks from under
this fabric, the only support it had, its key stone,
without which it must collapse, when he asserts
that the Welsh language is not Celtic. But he
stops there ; he clings to the ruins he has caused,
and manfully defends the breach, or rather pros-
tration, he himself had effected.

/

Had the Roman Britons been driven into Wales,

where, according to Welsh writers, they preserved
their independence and their language, they would
have carried with them the language, manners,
customs, institutions, literature, and civilization,
of the Romans ; and as the Welsh maintained
their independence for several centuries against

CALEDONIANS. 397

the Saxon and Norman kings of England, it is
not to be questioned but they would have had
abundance of written evidence of their true his-
tory, so as to rescue it from all doubt or question.
Their language would also have been Latin, or a
compound of that tongue like the French, Spanish,
Portuguese, and English ; it ought, and would, no
doubt, have been more pure Latin, than any of
these, because no* subsequent political convulsion
or conquest affected any change. What is the
fact ? The Welsh has less of Latin, than the
language of any nation that passed under the
Roman sway, which is a strong evidence that they
never were in permanent subjection to the Ro-
mans. The same may be said of their kindred
tribes, the Cornish and Armorican, particularly the
latter, who, had they been the Roman Britons who
followed Maximin to Gaul, would have more La-
tin in the composition of their language than their
neighbours, the French; but the reverse is the
fact, they have scarcely any, and they call the
modern French, of the neighbouring provinces,
Galek, which they never would do if they them-
selves were originally Gael. They call them-
selves Brezonek, or Britons, and their language,/
is essentially Welsh.

At the time of the Roman invasion there were

398 THE CYMBRI.

three distinct nations inhabiting Britain, the Gael,
the Cymbri, and the Belgce. The former were
those who inhabited south Britain, including- Wales,
and fought with Caesar ; the second were the Ca-
ledonians found in North Britain by Agricolas ;
and the third were the people from Belgic Gaul
who had formed trifling settlements on the coasts,
but were not either numerous or powerful.

.

The Gaelic Britons have been treated of in the
former chapters, at length ; it is now proposed to
treat of the antient Caledonians, who were after-
wards known by the name of Picts, and, after their
conquest and settlement in West Britain, by the
name of Wehli^ a name given them by the
Saxons.

I am inclined to think that the antient Caledonii
were the first inhabitants of all the British Islands,
including Ireland. On the arrival of the Pheni-
cian Gaelic colony, they called the inhabitants
Britains b/iJt baoJ/ie, or painted people. They
bore that name long before the Greeks became
navigators, and certainly received it from the
Phenicians. The Romans were ignorant of the

o

British islands before Caesar's invasion, and he
knew nothing of the Caledonians, or the fact of
their painting or staining their bodies, but from
hearsay. Tacitus is the first who gives any sue-

THE CALEDONIANS. 399

cinct account of these Northern Britons in his life
of Agricola, as follows :

" XI. Whether the first inhabitants of Britain
were natives of the island, or adventitious settlers,
is a question lost in the mists of antiquity. The
Britons, like other barbarous nations, have no
monuments of their history. They differ in ha-
bit and make of their bodies, and have various in-
ferences concerning their origin. The ruddy
hair and lusty limbs of the Caledonians indicate
a German extraction. That the Silures were at M
first a colony of Iberians, is concluded, not with-
out probability, from the olive tincture of their
skin, the natural curl of their hair, and the situa-
tion of the country so convenient to the coast of .
Spain. On the side opposite to Gaul, the inhabit-
ants resemble their neighbours on the continent ;
but whether that resemblance is the effect of one JK
common origin, or of the climate in contiguous
nations, operating on the make and temperament
of the human body, is a point not easy to be de-
cided. All circumstances considered, it is rather
probable that a colony from Gaul took possession
of a country so inviting by its proximity. You
will find in both nations the same religious rites,
and the same superstition. The two languages
differ but little. In provoking danger they dis-

400 THE CYMBRI.

cover the same ferocity, and in the encounter the
same timidity. The Britons, however, not yet
enfeebled by long peace, are possessed of superior
courage."

Here is a distinction drawn between the Cale-
donians and the Southern Britons. The former
are said to indicate a German origin by fair com-
plexion, sandy hair, large and robust form of
limb, while the Silures, who inhabited what is now
called South Wales, are declared to be of a Spa-
nish race from their swarthy dark skins and curly
hair.

After Tacitus we hear little of the Caledonians
by that name, for, it may almost be said that they
disappear from history. At the period of the
decline of the Roman power in Britain, the coun-
try which they inhabited was in the possession of
a people called the Picts, because they painted
their bodies, the very reason their ancestors re-
ceived the name of Britons from the Pheni-
cians.

It would appear, therefore, that the Phenician
Gaelic invaders exterminated or expelled the
Cymbric Britons from the South of Britain and
Ireland ; those who escaped were driven to the

THE PICTS. 401

north, where they were found by Agricola many
centuries afterwards, and received a name from
the Romans, exactly indicative of that they ob-
tained on their first discovery by the Phenicians.

Buchanan* says : " With respect to the Picts,
I do not think it was either a patronymic or a
very antient name, but was applied to them -by
the Romans from their bodies being ornamented
by fanciful incisions, which supposition is con-
firmed by Claudian in the following verses

" Ille leves Mauros, nee falso nomine Pictos
Edomuit, Scotumque vago mucrone secutus,
Fregit Hyperboreas remis audacibus undas.

" He the fleet Moor subdued ; and painted Pict,
Not falsely named. With a strange sword the Scot
He followed ; and the Hyperborean wave
Smote with his daring oars.''

Agairr,

" Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis
Quae Scoto dat froena truci, ferroque notatas,
Pcrlcgit examines Picto moricntc liguras.

" The legion came which guards the utmost bounds
Of Britain, restraining the savage Scot,
And on the bodies of the dying Picts,
Saw rude figures with the iron cut."

* Hist, of Scotland, lib. ii. bo.

Dd

THE CYMBRI.

" Herodian also, speaking of the same nation,
without mentioning- their name, or expressing the
means by which they painted or stained their bo-
dies, says, they use no garments, but wear iron
ornaments round the waist and neck, as other
barbarians do gold. They also mark their bodies
with a variety of animals of every form, and wear
no clothing lest these ornaments should be hid.

" As to the name of Picts, let the case be
as it may, if the Romans translated a barbarous
name into the Latin word of the nearest sound
or signification, or if the barbarians adopted the
word from the Latin, is of very little importance.
The name is there, and it is agreed on all hands
that the people who bore it, came from the east
into Britain, either from Scythia, or Germany ; it
is right to follow the authorities we find, and en-
deavour to arrive at the truth. Nor do I see
any more certain data to follow than the fact of
their painting their bodies.

" These Britons, the Ami in Germany, and
the Agathyrsi, painted their bodies, but it was to
render them more terrible in battle, that they
stained themselves with the juice of herbs. The
Picts, however, marked their skins with iron,
&c. &c."

THE PICTS. 403

This criticism of Buchanan is rather shallow,
for it is* well known that the punctures were made
with a sharp point of iron, and the juice of herbs,
(madder) rubbed thereon, which makes an inde-
lible stain. Sailors of all nations are in the habit
of puncturing anchors, and other figures, and by
rubbing gunpowder thereon, make on their bodies
such stains. Tne Picts, no doubt, did the %ame
thing with the juice of herbs.

Whitaker suggested that the Caledonians and
I the Picts were the same people under another
' name ; and Mr. Chalmers ably demonstrates and
establishes the fact in the sixth chapter of his Ca-
ledonia^ He, however, thought the Picts and
Gauls were, with the Southern Britons, but
branches of the same people ; and, arguing upon
that idea was, of course, involved in inevitable
difficulties which he could not surmount, and in
anomalies, which he in vain endeavoured to re-
concile.

He supposes the provincial Roman Britons to
have continued to have kept their original tongue,
after they became Roman citizens, which is nei-
ther probable nor borne out by history. Gildas,
when he describes Cuneglas, speaks of the Latin
as his own language " in lingua nostrd, huiio

104 THE CYMBRI.

fulve ;" and other authorities inform us of the
pride and conceit of the Britons in the polished
elegance with which they spoke Latin.

Whether the tribes who inhabited within the
walls of Antonine and Severus, as Roman pro-
vincials, for near four centuries, were originally
Gaeftc or Pictish Britons, may be a question ;
norisit of much importance ; they must, in either
case, be considered Romans ; and consequently, if
the latter, had altogether lost their character a-s
Picts, spoke the Roman language, and felt and
acted as Romans, and were as such under pro-
tection.

Mr. Chalmers thought they were Picts, and
that they preserved their independance for a con-
siderable time after the fall of the empire. In
this, it is conceived, he was mistaken. History
states, that they immediately fell under the domi-
nion of the Picts, with other provincials, and the
Cumbrian or Pictish monarchy, was founded on
the ruins of that part of the Roman province.

In " the year 306, Constans found it neces-
sary to come into Britain to repel the Caledo-
nians and other Picts. Caledones aliique Picti,
are the significant expressions of Eumenius, the

THE PICTS. 405

orator, who in a panegyric, during the year 297,
and again in 308, was the first who mentioned
the Picti as a people. As the learned professor
of Autun, knew the meaning of his own language,
we are bound to regard the Caledonians and Picts
as the same people at the end of the third cen-
tury. Towards the conclusion of the fourth
century, Ammianus Marcellinus, also, spoke of
the Caledonians and Picts as the same people :
4 Eo tempore Picti in duas gentes divisi Dicale-
dones et Vecturipnes. 3 * : ?~&t"Ke*tti SB. :

" Claudian about the year 400, de Bello Get-
tico, alluded to them in the following lines :

-ferroque notatus

Perlegit examines Picto moriente figuras.'

and in his panegyric on the victories of Theo-
dosius, again speaks thus of the Picts :

' Ille leves Mauros, nee falso nomine Pictos
Edomuit/

" The Caledonian people had often been men-
tioned before by classic authors, under other
names. The Caledonians were, on this occasion,
called Picts, owing to their peculiar seclusion from

* Ammian Marcell. lib. xxvii. c. 7.

406 THE CYMBRI.

the Roman provincials on the south of the walls ;
and they were often mentioned, during the de-
cline of the Roman empire, by orators, historians,
and poets, by that significant appellation. The
name of Picts has continued, to the present day,
the theme of antiquarian disputes, and the desig-
nation of national history. That the Picts were
Caledonians we have thus seen in the mention
of classic authors, during three centuries : that
the Caledonians, were the North Britons who
fought Agricola at the foot of the Grampian, we
know from the nature of events and the attes-
tation of Tacitus."*

Dr. Macpherson, the minister of Slate in the
Isle of Skie, in his ' Dissertation on the Antient
Caledonians,' section xii. says :

" It was an established tradition a thousand
years ago, that the Picts were the original inha-
bitants of the northern division of Britain. Bede
says in his Ecclesiastical History, that they came
to Caledonia from Scythia, the European part of
which, according to Pliny, comprehends Ger-
many. The authority of the venerable writer

* Chalmers Caledonia.

THE PICTS.

40?

was never questioned on this head ; and a belief
has ever since obtained that the Picts were a
different race from the Gauls who possessed the
southern parts of Britain."

Camden makes the following' observations on
the language of the Picts :

" Little can be inferred from the language, on
account of the small information given by au-
thors about that of the Picts. It seems, how-
ever, to have been the same with the British
(Welsh.) Bede writes, that the wall began at a
place, called in the language of the Picts, Pen-
vahel ; and Pengwall, in British, (Welsh) signifies
the head or beginning of the wall. All over
that part of the island, so long possessed by the
Picts, viz : the eastern part of Scotland the
names of many places savour of British origin,
as Murray, Merne, counties on the sea, from the
British (Welsh) word Mor, Aberdeen, Aberloth-
not, Aberdore, Aberneith, q. d. Mouths of Den,
Lothnot, Dore, and Neith, from Aber, which in
British, (Welsh) signify the month of a river.
Strathbolgy, Strathdu, and Strath ern, the vale of
Bolgy, Dee, and Earne, from Strath, British,
(Welsh) for vale. Edinburgh, the capital of the
Picts, has an evidently British, (Welsh) mime,

4 ' I

408 THE CYMBR1.

being 1 called by Ptolemy, Castrum alatam ; Eden,
signifying in British, (Welsh) a wing. Nor
shall J alledge, that some of the petty princes of
the Picts are called JBridii, which in British,
(Welsh) as has been frequently observed, means
painted. From these instances we may not un-
fairly conclude that the language of the Picts and
Britains, (Welsh) were alike, and consequently
the people the same ; though Bede speaks of the
languages of the Britains and Picts, as distinct,
when he seems to put languages for dialects."

It should be kept in mind that Camden here
means the Welsh language and people when he
says British; and how remarkably the cir-
cumstances mentioned in this passage, establish
the fact of the identity of the Picts and Welsh.
In Wales the names of the places are Irish ; in
the -country and the residence of the Picts, they
are JVelsh, " and consequently the people were the
same" Bede was perfectly right in declaring
the languages of the Britons and Picts to be dif-
ferent ; the error was in Camden's criticism, he
calls the Welsh, Britons. But Bede spoke of
the Gaelic Britons who spoke Irish, or Gaelic,
and consequently were not the same people.

Camden, however, gives his criticism, merely

THE P1CTS. 409

as a conjecture, for a few lines after, he adds.
" But this may, perhaps, be overborne by the
authority of Bede, and I am content that what
so great a man relates upon the information of
others, should outweigh these conjectures"

Tacitus, from their red hair and large limbs,
supposes them of German extraction, but pre-
sently after ascribes this to the climate, which
influences the habits of the body. Whence also
Vitruvius observes <l Under the northern polar
regions, live nations of large proportions, taw r ny
colour, with short red hair."

In addition to the names mentioned by Cam-
den, may be added as Welsh etymons :

Elgin Al, produce Gin, skin, or wool pelt.
Devon Dove.

Tay Tavey.

Clyde Clwyd, and many others which are all
Welsh.

Ammianus Marcellinus, divides these Picts into
Dicaledones and Vecturiones. Camden says :

" I would propose to read Deucaledonii, and

110 THE CYMBRI.

suppose them seated on the western coast of Scot-
land, where the Deucaledonian ocean breaks in."
Di is a prefix of the same import in the Welsh
language, as dis in the English, and signifies se-
parated ; the Dicaledonians, therefore, are those
who inhabited the western coast of Scotland, and
were separated by the mountains from the eastern
Caledonians or Vecturiones.

The derivation of Vecturiones appears to be
from the Welsh Ugdernas, a superior realm, or
the chief district, the residence of the Ucdeyrn,
or sovereign prince ; uc, chief, deyrn, lord. The
sound of this word Ucdeyrnas is so like the Roman
Vecturiones, that the meaning seems palpable.
The term Dicaledones, or separated Caledonians,
is equally explanatory ; and the two united,
.clearly expresses the peculiar circumstances of the
country and people. The names also being
Welsh, identify the antient Picts with that people.
The term Dicaledones identify the Picts with the
antient Caledonians.

The old Irish name of a Pict was
This word is a compound of c/iuJt, lively, and
nJeacb, a tribe the lively people ; c/tuJt, is also
the name of the harp, so that it may have had its
origin from their playing on the harp ;

THE PICTS. 4,11

time, is the name of the Picts country ; tcmt,
means both a country and the north. Either de-
rivation is very applicable, and it is very possible
the name of Cruithneac, was from their harp.

The nation of harpers.

M***nt\ ** Cwt- te4**w %

In addition to the observations of Camden re-
specting the Welsh names of the eastern and south-
ern parts of Scotland ; it may be urged that the
theatre of the acts of Arthur were in that coun-
try, where his name is more celebrated than /;.
in Wales, and many places are called after him,

as Arthur's seat, near Edinburgh.
***** o+rf 4^**^

/*-<<: . -. ,- <H? 4?6ue *MJpJK***- -,

Most of the Welsh pedigrees commence with
princes of the province of Reged, in Scotland,
and all indicate that they came from that country '
to Wales.

A*w*v /

>

Mr. Lhuyd himself says in the Preface to his
Archaealogia : " I don't profess to be an Eng- &*
lishman, but an old Briton, and according to our
British genealogy, descended in the male line
from Heliodon Leathanuin, the son of Martian, ;
the son of Keneu, the son of Coel Killsheamck,
alias Coel Godebog, in the province of Reged, in
Scotland, in the fourth century, before the Saxons / ' **<
came into Britain ; but we are at a loss now for

< THE CYMBRI.

a modern name of that country ; and we have no
other account of its situation, but that it is Cum-
bria, the metropolis of which was Caer al Cluid,
which according- to some, is now called Dunbar-
ton, and according to others the city of Glasgow."

It is really a matter of surprise that so palpa-
ble a statement of the real origin, as is here
given of the Welsh, should have escaped so in-
telligent and astute a writer as Lhuyd, the period
too, the fourth century, and the name of the pro-
vince Cumbria, i.e. the country of the Cymbri, or
Cumbria, the Welsh name for themselves.

The Picts disappear from history altogether,
with the Roman province, and are apparently as
much lost as the ten tribes of Israel. What be-
came of them ? and who were the Welsh ? They
disappeared at the very moment the Welsh
'seem to have obtained possession of Wales.
The Welsh say they came from Scotland, and
were the same people as the Strathcluyd Britons,
the latter were the Picts.

The Romans mention no people as inhabiting
North Britain, but the Caledonians and Picts ;
all history is silent on the subject of any other.
It has been proved that the antient Britons were

THE PICTS. 413

not Welsh. The County of Cumberland, and
the province of Cumbria, denote clearly that the
Cynibri inhabited that country ; the Welsh call
themselves Gymbriy or Cumraeg, which is the
same name ; they conquered Wales from the
Romans, and were not conquered by them. In
short, there can, I think, be no rational doubt of
the fact, that the Picts and the pf^elsh are the
same people.

This appears to be established as clearly
and demonstrably as any part of antient history
can be, and the only reason it has not been before
discovered, is because the subject has never been
fully and sufficiently sifted and examined.

The Picts made good their settlement in Ar-
morica about the same time they subdued Cum-
berland, Wales, and Cornwall, and have ever
since been there, a distinct people, keeping
up their language and customs. It is improbable,
if not impossible, that the Armorican Bretons
were a tribe of the antient Gauls, for the same
causes which obliterated the language of the rest
of Gaul, would have equally affected the province
of Armorica ; it is absurd to suppose the po-
lished Romans of that district alone could have
been able to preserve their independance. No,

414 THE CYMBRI.

the barbarian Picts seized on that province from
the sea, as they did Wales and Cornwall, and,
probably, conquered the three countries about
the sanie period.

Camden says " Should any deny that our
Britons adopted the provincial Latin, let him
consider what pains the Romans took to make
the provinces speak Latin, and observe what a,
number of Latin words have got into the British
language, not to alledge the authority of Tacitus,
who writes that the Britons, in Domitian's time,
affected even the eloquence of the Latin lan-
guage"

After detachments of the Picts had made good
their conquest of Wales, Cornwall, and Armo-
rica, those who remained in Pictland were en-
gaged in constant wars with the Gael of the
western mountains of North Britain, which
country they had, a very short time before, con-
quered from them ; for the Picts and Scots,
though they appear as joint invaders of the
Roman province, do not seem to have ever acted
in concert, but as independent and unconnected
plunderers. The Scots had the sole object of
plunder, and it was not a matter of much consi-
deration who was the object. From one in-

THE PICTS. 415

eroachment on the Picts they proceeded to ano-
ther, until they completely exterminated the
whole race, under Kenneth Mac Alpine ; and,
but for their colonies in Wales, Cornwall, and
Britanny, their descendants would not now exist,
but the name of Cymbri would have disappeared
from the earth.

The following* account, from Fordun, details
their last struggle and total annihilation :

" Kenneth M'Alpin, King of Scots, having
determined on the conquest of the Picts, com-
manded his troops to destroy not only the men,
but also the women and children ; and neither to
respect sex or holy orders, not to take prisoners,
but to destroy every one with fire and sword.
Therefore, in the sixth year of his reign, the
Picts being much occupied with the defence of
their shores against the vexatious and distressing
depredations of the Danish pirates, Kenneth
attacked them on their mountainous border,
called Drum Alban^ or the back of Albion,
which having passed, he slew many of the Picts,
put the rest to flight, and thus conquered and
acquired both the kingdoms of the monarchy.
The Picts recovered a little by the help of the
English, and for four years annoyed Kenneth.

416 THE CYMBRI.

But after some ineffectual struggles, and destruc-
tive slaughters, in the twelfth year of his reign,
he engaged them seven times in one day, and
completely destroyed the whole nation of the
Picts ; and thus was united, under one monarch,
the whole country from the Tyne to the Orcades-,
as was lately prophesied by Saint Adanman,
Abbot of Hye, which was, in all respects, con-
firmed. So, indeed, not only were the kings
and generals of that nation destroyed, but also
the people, root and branch, but even their lan-
guage is altogether obliterated, so that whatever
is found respecting them of old times, is consi-
dered by many to be apocryphal."

We have now satisfactorily accounted for the
disappearance of the Picts from Scotland, and in
a previous part of this chapter shewn that the
Welsh were originally a colony of Picts, who
conquered Wales, after the withdrawing the
Roman legions from Britain. The chapter on
the Cymbri shews the strong probability, if it
does not demonstrate the fact, of their being the
same people as the Cimbri who invaded Gaul ;
if they lose any thing by being deprived
of their supposed Celtic ancestry, they acquire
as antient and glorious one. Their ancestors,

THE PICTS. 417

the Cimbri, were always illustrious in arms
often a terror to the mistress of the world, and,
eventually, one of her conquerors. It will give
them what their triads claim for them- the ho-
nour of being the first settlers of Britain ; it will
restore to them the undisputed possession of their
cherished hero Arthur ; it will shew that the
existence and acts of that illustrious champion of
his country were not fabulous ; in short, it will
give the Cymbri an existence in real history,
while it only deprives them of an imaginary po-
sition which they never really occupied. If they
were, in a very early age, conquered and expelled
from the southern parts of Britain, and driven
to the northern extremity of the island, by the
intruding Phenician Gael, who, in their turn,
were subdued and amalgamated with their con-
querors, the indomitable Romans, they had the
honour of resisting, with effect and success, the
invincible legions of that haughty and encroach-
ing people, and preserved their independance by
their vigorous arms and unconquerable hearts ;
and when the time of retribution arrived, their
descendants rushed on the Roman province-
extended the bounds of Pictavia beyond the wall
re-conquered a part of their antient possessions,
Cumberland, the northern part of England,

E e

418 THE CYMBRI.

the beautiful and romantic Cambria and Corn-
wall, and even secured a part of the province of
Gaul, which their descendants have kept to this
day, from them called Britanny.

' >/

/^4 ^

THE IRISH HISTORY.

CHAPTER XII.

Why kept for the concluding chapter taken from Giraldus
Cambrensis Nemidius Firbolgs Belgcc Tuath de Da-
nans and Cymbri the story of the Gael before Mile-
sius a paraphrase on the Phenician history conclusion.

I have reserved the narrative of history, by the
Irish themselves, for the concluding chapter,
following the suggestion of Godfrey Higgins, by
producing evidence, ab extra, in the first in-
stance. If the native statements be found to
agree with extraneous history, and accord,
and, as it were, dovetail in with the accounts
and circumstances of antient history, and, when
arranged, like the portions of a dissected map,
form a consistent whole, it claims, and will obtain,
a deference and respect, which would be unwil-
lingly conceded were it, in the first instance,

E e 2

420 THE GAEL.

exhibited, relying on its own intrinsic weight
and worth.

The following statement is chiefly derived from
the recital of Giraldus Cambrensis, which I have
chosen to rely on rather than to rest entirely
on Irish authority : first, because I am not
aware of the existence of any M.S. history of
Ireland, in the Irish language, of equal antiquity
with Giraldus ; and, secondly, because it is desi-
rable that the statements should be based on au-
thority as free as possible from the imputation of
national feeling or bias.

The early history of every nation abounds in
fiction, confusion, and contradiction ; why, there-
fore, should that of Ireland be condemned if
it partakes of an infirmity from which no early
history is exempt. It appears almost an impos-
sibility that any mere traditions of early ages
and events should be clear and explicit ; the oral
repetition of a story, in the course of a few ge-
nerations, would make it very unlike the original
no statement can be preserved correct which
is not committed to writing. The Irish accounts,
however, were, most likely, written at a very
early period, or tl)ey could not, at this day, be so
singularly correct a paraphrase of the Phenician

IRISH HISTORY.

history, given us by Herodotus, or so satisfacto-
rily explain the history of the Belgse and Cymbri.
But it may be objected, that if they were written,
where are they ? They have perished.

Where are the Carthaginian records ? where
any vestige of their own history of the earliest
acts of the Phenicians ? all have perished by
time, or have been destroyed by the jealous ex-
ertions of their rival enemies. To remove an
obstacle to the possession of universal wealth and
empire, the Romans not only destroyed Carthage,
but, jealous of Phenician glory, they destroyed
every vestige of their history which could hand
down *to posterity the acts and acquirements of
that extraordinary and illustrious people. De-
lenda est Carthago, extended to her city, people,
power, wealth, learning, science, arts, commerce,
and even to her glory. Rome, with jealous
avidity, would not afford a kind feeling to her
glorious but fallen rival, or allow her an ear-
lier place in history than herself.

It is only in the Scriptures, and in the writers
of Greece, we find a few scattered memoranda
bright evidences, indeed, of the lustre and splen-
dour of Phenician commerce and civilization,
but still very imperfect lights as to the extent of

THE GAEL.

their advancement, but still enough to demon-
strate their high state of cultivation.

The Irish Gael were, no doubt, acquainted
with letters before the Greeks, being a colony of
the people from whom the latter borrowed their
alphabet. There is, therefore, nothing wonder-
ful in their handing down to their posterity their
early history ; it would be an extraordinary cir-
cumstance if such a history and tradition did not
exist, as there had been no conquest or change in
the people during the lapse of, perhaps, more
than three thousand years.

No other nation, of Europe, has been so
circumstanced ; they have all, in their turns,
been subjected to the yoke of the conqueror,
and, in most instances, lost their original charac-
ter as an unmixed people ; and, in general, have
been so entirely jumbled up with their conquerors,
that every trace of them is lost and obliterated.
Local situation preserved the Gael of Ireland
pure, and they kept the traditions of their fathers
unadulterated a singular and extraordinary
phenomenon in the history of nations. Many
causes have tended to the destruction of antient
Irish manuscripts, but there are still more ex-

IRISH HISTORY. 423

tant than of any other European nation, of a
date previous to the 8th century.

In claiming, for these reasons, more than ordi-
nary credence for the antient traditions of Ire-
land, I am not demanding more than they will be
found to deserve, as they perfectly accord, in
almost every respect, with the facts and circum-
stances we acquire from other sources.

The Irish language indicates, as observed by
the Rev. Mr. Roberts, a commercial and navi-
gating people, and an intercourse with many
nations, from the vast number of its synonymes,
especially respecting maritime affairs. There are
near twenty different terms for the sea, a great
number for the shore, coasts, ships, boats, &c. &c.
most of them monosyllabic, except in compound
words, put together to express a particular kind
of sea, or a compound idea, which is, in itself, a
strong corroboration of their Phenician origin.

The Firbolgs are related to have come from
the Euxine Sea, but the Gael are distinctly de-
clared to have had their original settlement in
the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, from which
they w T andered to Egypt, Greece, Africa, and
many other countries, before they settled in Ire-

424 THE GAEL.

land. They appear to have visited countries
quite out of the beaten track to Ireland or antient
Celtica, and their history relates facts respecting
these early wanderings, which exactly tallies with
the history of the Phenicians, and the cir-
cumstances which hitherto appeared to render
their story unworthy of credit, give it a con-
sistency and authentic character now we know
their true origin. The events which occur-
red in the trading voyages of the Phenicians,
as well as those on their military expeditions,
are related in Irish history, but often applied to
subsequent periods and other countries, and thus
appears inconsistent and false, when they are but
an erroneous arrangement of events, as to time
and place.

Thus the early Irish history refers to the
whole extent of the exploits of the Gael, to
Spain, Gaul, and Britain, as well as Ireland, and
even to the early acts and history of the Ho-
meritae or Arabian Phenicians.

The Gael of Spain, Britain, and Gaul, were
conquered by the Romans, and being amalga-
mated with the conquerors, their history and tra-
ditions were totally obliterated, and themselves,
as a separate people, entirely lost ; no vestige

IRISH HISTORY.

remaining but the names given by them to coun-
tries, people, mountains, c. with some promi-
nent features of their own character handed to us
by the Greek and Roman writers.

The Irish having never been subjugated to the
Roman power, have remained an unmixed and
pure specimen of the antient Celtae ; and their
language, customs, and religion, now enable us
to identify them with their Phenician ancestors,
and their traditions ascertain facts of history which
had they also been subjected to the Roman yoke,
must for ever have remained unknown.

The Celtse being a colony of the Phenicians,
were, of course, a lettered people on their first
arrival in Europe. This is corroborated by the
extracts herein-before given from Caesar, Dio-
dorus, and other writers, shewing that the Gael
were a lettered people in their day. This goes a
great way in accounting for the accuracy of the
traditions of civilized Ireland at a remote anti-
quity of time, and will render all cavil on the
subject in future, ineffectual, if not absurd.

The Phenician Gael found the British is-
lands in the possession of a people who,
having the habit of painting their bodies, as

THE GAEL.

before stated, they gave the name of b/tJt
painted baoJne, men or people; pronounced
Briteen painted or stained people ; and they
called the islands b/t.Jt, painted t<xna, country
the country of painted people. Other deriva-
tions of these names appear forced and unsatis-
factory when compared to these which are na-
tural and free from objection.

The Phenicians for some time traded with the
Britons, but finding both islands rich in metals
and other produce, they took hostile possession of
the parts which best supplied their avidity for the
precious metals, and eventually drove the antient
inhabitants from the whole of Ireland and South
Britain. Of the precise period they made them-
selves masters of Celtic Gaul, we have no means
of coming to a correct decision, but it must have
been at a very early period, after they had se-
cured the British islands.

The oldest Irish history (omitting the fable of
Partholan) distinctly states, that three nations in
succession have possessed Ireland the Firbolgs,
the Tuath de Danans, and the Gael, or Mi-
lesians. The original inhabitants, the Fir-
bolgs, after some centuries of possession, are
said to have been exterminated, or expelled by

IRISH HISTORY.

the Tuath de Danans, who, in their turn, were
driven out by the Gael, whose descendants were
in possession at the English invasion by Henry
II.. king of England, in the twelfth century of
the Christian era.

THE FIRBOLGS.

The Irish narrative respecting the Firbolgs,
is as follows :

About 1718 years before the Christian era,
i#w'k~ T!e<xro<xJb, or the holy one, (the northern as well
as eastern nations, commence their historic pe-
digree with a deity) latinized in later days into
Nemidius, with four sons, and a fleet of thirty-
ships, each containing thirty persons, arrived in
Ireland, from the Euxine sea ; and finding the
island without inhabitants, took possession and
settled therein. After a time his people were
much annoyed by pirates from Africa, whom they
called Fomorians, who wasted the coasts by their
inroads. He fought four battles with them ; in
the last, his son Art, who had been born in Ire-
land, was slain with most of his people, which so
afflicted him that he died of grief.

428 THE GAEL.

His descendants remained in Ireland 216
years, during which time they had many con-
flicts with the African pirates, who not only in-
vaded but made settlements in, and nearly sub-
dued the whole country, compelling the Neme-
dians to submit to their authority, and oppressed
them so much that they determined to leave the
country, which they shortly after did under the
command of Simon Breac, Jobath, and Briton
Maol. The first is said to have sailed to Greece,
the second to the north of, Europe, and the last
to the north of Britain.

After a period of about 200 years, the pos-
terity of Simon Breac are said to have returned
to Ireland, under the name of Firbolgs, com-
manded by five brothers, who divided the coun-
try among them in equal portions, and placed a
stone in the centre of the island where all their
shares met. The names of the brothers were
Slainge, Rughraidhe, Geanann, Seangann, and
Gann. Slainge, the eldest brother, was made
monarch, or federal head, of the whole country.
The Firbolgs kept possession for many genera-
tions, until a prince, named Eochaid, became so-
vereign, in whose reign the Tuath de Danans
invaded the country.

In the Firbolgs jrea/i, men; bolj, a bag, or

IRISH HISTORY. 429

boat of leather, we recognize the Belgce, the peo-
ple who occupied the greater part of northern
Gaul, in the time of Caesar, and, previously, all
Gaul, and Britain, and they were expelled from the
former by the Tuath de Danans, and afterwards
from central Gaul by the Celtse. These people
have by all Irish authorities been considered,
and correctly, the same as the Belgse.

.

&*** ?i $# '**

TUATH DE DANANS.

In the reign of the said Eochaid, Ireland
was invaded by a people from Denmark, called
Tuath de Danans, under the command of a
prince, named Nuada Tfu<xb<x at/igJob Urn, or
Nua with the silver hand, who, having made
good their landing, in immense numbers, at-
tacked the Firbolg army, and slew king Eochaid
in battle, with more than one hundred thousand
of his people, and, in fact, nearly exterminated
the whole race, and made themselves masters of
their country.

The Irish historians say these Tuath de Da-
nans were the posterity of Briotan Maol, the
Nemedian prince before mentioned, but more

430 THE GAEL,

probably it was meant, that being of a north-
ern nation, they were of the same race. They,
however, distinctly state, that they came from the
land of Loghlin, or Denmark, and passed over,
in the first instance, to the north of Scotland,
where they continued for some time at Dovar,
and lardovar, in other words, occupied the east
and west coasts ; bobcat, is coast, and M/i, is
west that is, they occupied the whole country
from the east to the western seas. Previous
writers have in vain puzzled themselves to find
the names of Dovar and lardovar, in Scotland.*
These people also are represented as great sor-
cerers. It was them, and not the Gael, who first
brought the Liag Fail, or stone of destiny, to
Scotland, on which the kings of Ireland, and
afterwards those of Scotland, used to be crowned,

which emitted a sound on the occasion. This

' ' ' j L*

stone is now under the seat of the coronation

chair, in Westminster Abbey, having been carried
from Scone, by Edward I. They also possessed
three other articles of superstitious value, the
sword and spear of a certain king, named Looee
of the long hand / and the cauldron of Daghdae,

* Dover in Kent is, no doubt, from the same Gaelic
word it means the sea coast.

IRISH HISTOIIY. 431

or the good man, which it is unnecessary to en-
large upon.

The history thus indirectly states, that these
Ttiath de Danans, were the ancestors of the Cale-
donians, or Picts, and appears to give us the true,
or, at all events, the probable account of the in-
vasion, conquest, and settlement of all Britain,
as well as of Ireland, by the Gymbri, to whom
the Gael gave the name of urnr,. north, be, of;
baoJne, people, or north men ; people from the
north, the literal meaning of the term they call-
ing themselves Cymbri. The immense hordes
which the Cimbri poured into Gaul, is an ensam-
ple of their manner of proceeding, and accounts
for the destruction of the entire Belgic population,
and the instantaneous and complete occupation
of the two islands of Britain, by an innumerable
multitude of people.

That this people possessed both Britain and
Ireland on the arrival of the Gael, would appear
by their name of Britons, which is Gaelic, and was
given on account of the habit of painting their
bodies, as before mentioned.

Nna, is said to have reigned thirty years, and
was succeeded by Breas, and he by Looe with

432 THE GAEL.

the white hand, and he by Delvy, who was suc-
ceeded by Feea.

After Feea, three poetical characters are said
to have inherited the sovereignty, or at least three
individuals, on whom mysterious names were im-
posed, to inspire confidence in their own people,
and terror in the enemy ; probably on account of
the emergency of the case arising from the inva-
sion of their country by the Milesian Gael.
They were Maccuill, or the child of evil ; Mac-
ceacht, the child of power, and Mac Greine, the
child of the sun. It is not an unusual occur-
rence among rude and barbarous people, to
invest their generals with high sounding mys-
terious names on great emergencies.

Such is the traditional history of the Tuath
de Danans, handed down by the Milesian Gael,
their conquerors, which, if it does not give us an
unquestionable narrative of events, at least sup-
plies us with one consistent and probable, borne
out by other and extraneous accounts and cir-
cumstances which entitle it to considerable de-
ference, as respectable testimony.

IRISH HISTORY. 433

THE GAEL OF IRELAND OR SCOTI.

The annals of Tigernach, or as the name is
pronounced, Tierna^ the most antient of the
written chronicles of Ireland, now extant, com-
mence with Cimbaoth, the son of Fintain, who
began his reign in the year 305, A. C. the fourth
year of the 118 Olympiad, and the 4-46 of the
city of Rome, 4433 of the Julian period, and &**
A. M. 3899. Tierna was a monk of the abbey of
Clonmacnoise, and died A. D. 1088. In the very
first passage of his Chronicles, he says ' ' Qmnia tf** **
monumenta Scotorum usque Cimbaoth incerta t*i*#* *W
erant." His character for accuracy and fidelity
is unimpeachable, and his work is honourable to
the literary celebrity of his country.

Although he says the monuments of the Scoti
before 305, A. C. are uncertain ; he does not in-
timate that the traditions of his country were
unworthy of credit, but rather that the written
testimony, the monumenta, failed to supply un-
questionable and certain history.

It appears from Caesar that the Gauls were
attentive to, and prided themselves on the accu-
racy of their pedigrees, and were most anxious

eg

434 THE GAEL.

on a subject on which they placed so much
value. It has been, it is hoped, satisfactorily
established, that they were a branch of the same
stock as the Gael of Ireland, where the same
propensity and anxious desire has existed, and
still exists, even among the lowest peasantry, of
the Gaelic tribes, few of whom would fail, at this
moment, to recite, not only their own immediate
ancestors for eight or ten generations, up to some
distinguished individual, but can also relate the
descent of most of the people of their neigh-
bourhood and clan.

This feeling has tended to preserve, tradition-
ally, the history of the descent of their kings
and princes, from a very remote antiquity, and
by means of genealogical poems, sung by their
hereditary bards and senachies, or chroniclers
(who are described by Diodorus Siculus, as ex-
isting also among the Gauls,) continued down
to times comparatively recent, and at length,
committed to writing, embellished, undoubtedly,
by fancy, with heroic acts, and exaggerated by
poetic fiction. Still the thread of genealogy
and the line of history has been preserved in
a manner, worthy of consideration ; and when
corroborated, as it is by external evidence,
may be received, not only as the best tes-
timony of the verity of history, but worthy of

IRISH HISTORY. 435

as much, as the relations or hearsay of Hero-
dotus, or any other antient historian.

The history of the Gael before their arrival
in Ireland, according to their own accounts, com-
mences, like that of most other nations, with a
hero, or half divinity, who invented, or rather
instructed them in the useful arts of husbandry
and commerce. The descent given of the Irish
patriarch, from Japhet, the son of Noah, may
have been the addition of some writer, after
the introduction of Christianity, when they be-
came acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures.

Feme Farsa, (jreJ/ie, husbandman, f<x/y<x
instructor') the instructor of husbandmen, or, as
later writers have latinized] his name, Fenius, is
the first person mentioned in the Irish story as
the great leader of their tribe. He is said to
have been a king of the Scots, fcult, Scuits
or wanderers ; some have made him king of
that undefined country, Scythia, a modern error,
on account of his people being called Scuits, or
wanderers. He had two sons, Nenual, who as
his father's prime minister, or regent, governed
the plains of Shinaar, or Sanaar, and Niul, or
the Champion, who had a kingdom called Capi-
cirunt, near the Red Sea.

436 THE GAEL.

This latter is a barbarous name for a coun-
try, but, when examined, all objection vanishes,
and its meaning corroborates, and not estab-
lishes the truth of the tradition, in a most re-
markable manner. It has reference to that part
of Arabia Felix, abounding in wax, which
Herodotus tells us the Phenicians occupied before
they settled on the coast of Syria, in the Mediter-
ranean, and it is a compound word meaning the
mouth of the river of the country producing
gum or wax ; c<xb, a mouth <x of cM/i wax or
gum <xB<Xtt a river.* If this be accidental ety-
mology it is a very extraordinary combination,
especially when all the other names and circum-
stances are considered.

Niul, or the Champion, was succeeded by his
son Oaodhal, or, as it is pronounced Gael, from
whom his descendants have their name, who was
father of Easru, or the provident, who died in
Egypt ; his son Sru, or the prodigal, was father
of Eber Scuit, or Eber the navigating wanderer,

His son Begamain, or Biodgamainighe, the
thrifty, or prudent, c liter&lly the enemy of scarcity,
succeeded him, whose son

* Pronounced Cabaceeraun,

IRISH HISTORY. 437

Ogamain, or Begamain the younger, was his
successor, father of Tait,* (or Mercury) the
promoter of trade, who was father of another

Ogamain, (or Adnamain) who fought with
Reoffaloir, &e<xbatoJ/i, the crafty one, and slew him.

Ogamain had three sons Ealloid, (e<xl<xb, skil-
ful} a military commander. Lamfhion (Urn jrtofl,
white or pure hand} and Lamglas (lam gUf, grey
or brown hand).

Lamfhion was a great warrior, and was father
of Heber Glunnfion, (&lun jrJon, pure and chaste)
who is said to have been a prince of great wis-
dom, and was the father of

Faobhar glas, (jxxaBoijt gldf , of the dark sharp
sword),~or Eabrac, (e<xB/i<xb, the man of iron, the
strong) who was father of

Niannual, (n ton-nemU, the illustrious and noble)
who was the father of

NUAGAOT (naa new, gaot sea). The name of
this prince affords a very extraordinary accord-

* bM talc The god Tait, or Teutates, the Celtic Mercury.

438 THE GAEL.

ance with the statements of Herodotus and
Dionysius, cited in pages 41, 42, and 43, that the
Phenicians inhabited the coast of the Red Sea be-
fore they possessed Tyre and Sidon on the Me-
diterranean. Here we have a prince called by the
name of New Sea, in honour, no doubt, of his
discovery of the Mediterranean. Can this also
be accidental ? His son

Ealloid, (e<xl<xb, or the skilful or prudent) whose

son

Earchada, e<x^caba, the replenisher, restorer,
whose son

IK Dagdae, or bag, good b<xe, man, whose son
Breatha, or the judicious, sailed with four tran-
sports, each having twenty-four men and twenty-
four women, and discovered Spain, where he built

' .

the town Brachar. How exactly this account tal-
lies with probability, and synchronises with other
history and unquestionable facts. His son

Briogan, or Breegan,born in Spain, 6/1)5, high,
noble, an, man, who built the city of Brigantium.
He is said to have had a numerous issue Bile, or
Belus, or Baal, Cualine, or the curly -headed,
Cualla, or the companion, Blath, a blossom, Aible,

IRISH HISTORY. 439

a spark of fire, Breagha, comfort. Muirthemhue,
(routy, the sea, te<xm, expert aeb, eye) or the ex-
pert seaman or navigator, and Ith, (Jt, corn,
plenty.}

Bile, or Belius, was the eldest son and father
of Galamb, or Milesius.

Gallamb, 5<xoJl, a kindred or family Urn, a
hand, or power, i. e. chief of the tribe wielding
the sceptre or command. He was also called
Milesius, possibly from roJleab, a thousand or
commander of thousands. This appears to have
been a common name, or title, among the Phe-
nicians, for Cadmus, who taught the Greeks let-
ters, was also styled Milesius.*

In this short statement the Phenician history
appears paraphrased in a remarkable manner, and
too palpably to be mistaken.

* Josephus in his first book against Apion, writes thus :
" Ot [.lev TQL ras urropia 1 } eTTixeipijffavTes av^!"pa^)eiv Trap

avrour, Xe%a Bia TOV? Trepl Ka/toi/ re rov fiiheffiov" " Qui

historias apud eos conscribere tentavere, id est. Cadmus

Milesius." Vossius DE HIST. GREC. 5.

Timagines, another Phenician author, who was also called

Milesius.

THE GAEL.

Fenius Farsa, the instructor in husbandry and
letters, governed in the plains of Shinaar, or
Sanaar, on the Red Sea, in the gum or wax coun-
try ; and Herodotus states, that the Phenicians
inhabited the city of Sanaa, also situated in that
neghbourhood, see pag-es 41, 12. Arc. and the
brief sketch of Phenician history throughout.

We have here many names mentioned by the
Greek writers, as the heroes of early history as
Nil, Sihor, Osihor, Toth, Belus and Ogmius,
which are the Niul, Sni, Asru, Tait, Bile, and
Ogamain, of Irish history. The learned and
venerable Charles O'Conor of Balenagar, first
<? these names in juxta-position in his short,
but valuable dissertations on the History of Ire-
land, the first attempt to place Irish History on
a sound basis, which was much improved upon
by his learned and kind-hearted grandson, the
late Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor.

It is calculated to have been in the year 1269,
before Christ,, when Chebres was king of Egypt,
and Deborah judged Israel, that Heber, Here-
mon and Ir, with Ith, their uncle, four Pheni-
cian generals with a large force from Spain, which
had been conquered, and settled by Daghdae,

IRISH HISTORY. 441

about one hundred years previously, invaded the
British islands, having conquered the king Mac-
greine, (or the son of the Son, or Apollo) sub-
jugated both islands.

We have no history of the Gael of Britain to
guide us, but we may fairly conclude the early
history of Phenician conquest applied to both
countries, and also to Celtic Gaul, which they
certainly also conquered and settled, as ap-
pears clearly by the descendants of Heber, Bran,
and Ir, appearing among the tribes of Gaul and
Britain in Eubero vices, Brannovies, Ordovices
and Silures, as before alluded to.

Heber and Heremon, each became sovereign
of a moiety of Ireland, but after a short period
they disagreed, and having, as usual on such oc-
casions, referred their dispute to the decision of
the sword, Heber was slain, and Heremon be-
came sole monarch of Ireland, and held it four-
teen years. It is very probable, that it was after
the death of Heber that his tribe or followers,
with those of Ir, sought new settlements in Bri-
tain and Gaul, and conquered those countries.

Heremon is said to have reigned alone for four-
teen years, and was succeeded by his three sons

THE GAEL.

Muine, Luine, and Laine, who governed
jointly.

Many points of great interest yet remain to
be investigated, illustrative of the antient history
of the Gael, or Scoti, and their ancestors, the
Phenicians ; but the first object is obtained if a
foundation has been laid demonstrating the grand
principia of their origin, language, and descent,
from the Phenicians. If that has been accom-
plished, the means of illustration are provided,
by which many points may be now ascertained,
which were hitherto in utter darkness ; the thick
clouds have been dispersed, and the features of
the landscape have become more defined as the
mist cleared away. We are now able to speak
with something like logical certainty to points, on
which hitherto, at most, we could but hazard a
surmise. The number of facts collected and
brought to bear on antient history for the first
time, supplies a fulcrum to the mind, while it satis-
fies and convinces. It is no longer necessary to
rest on uncertain probabilities, or questionable
data. The complete identity of the Phenician
and Irish languages explains, makes palpable, and
elucidates, not only the history and geography
of Europe, but most of the antient maritime
world, and in fact removes every difficulty to the

CONCLUSION. 443

acquirement of correct notions of the events of
the earliest times.

Personages and places involved in fable, ob-
scured by metaphor and allegory, confused, and
misunderstood, by this language have been made
intelligible in the elements of their names. Such
places as the Riphean Mountains and the Hyr-
cinian Forests, which like Cape Fly-away of the
mariner, has eluded the grasp of the most intelli-
gent geographer and etymologist, have been de-
fined and made amenable, and Hercules himself
with his adversary Geryon, reduced to their pro-
per station and position.

I trust the great body of facts and data con-
densed into this volume, will be found to justify
the confidence with which the conclusions have
been drawn from them. The work has been exe-
cuted, I am sensible, very imperfectly ; but the
value and importance of the points elucidated,
will atone, in some degree, for its defects. Should
what has been written prove interesting to the
public, and life and health permit, this very in-
teresting subject will be followed up by further
investigations.

THE END.

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INDEX.

Abeila, or Ceuta, explained, 103.

Abomeneus, 61.

Abravannus River, 205.

Abybaal king of Tyre, 56.

Acquitani, explained, 193.

Adonis, Thammuz, 56.

Adraste, 224.

Adur River, 206.

Adurni Estuary, 216.

^dui, 141, 143, 189.

^Etius, the Roman Consul, 271, 274.

Africa, 47.

Ages of the world, 289.

Agli-Belus, 231.

Ailithre, what, 243.

Aire River, 205.

Albion and Bergion, 23.

Alduabis River, 194.

Alen River, 205.

.Alesia, a town of Gaul, its name
explained, 171.

Alexander besieges Tyre, and takes
it, 63 Diodorus Siculus his ac-
count of the siege, 70.*

Allier River, 195.

Allobroges, 193.

Amber, its Gaelic name, 21.

Ambiorix, 196.

Ambrones, 141, 189.

Ambrosius Aurelius, 277.

Ammon, Jupiter, 61.

Ammonia, Astaroth, 60.

Anan River, 206.

Andraste 224, 233, 234.

Anker River, 205.

Apollo Grannus, 230.

Archers in Gaul, 171.

Ardoena, 232.

Argonauts, expedition of, 29.

Ark, a good model, 75.

Ariovistus, 150.
Armoricans, not Celts, 6, 7-
Arthur, king, the scene of his ex-
ploits, not fabulous, 307, 417.
Arvad, people of, 32, 33.
Arviragus, 196.
Astaroth, 50, 60.
Astarte, 242.

Asterinus, king of Tyre, 66.
Attrebatii, 200.
Avaricum, siege of, 170.
Aulerci, 141, 199,

Brannovices, 189.

Cenomanni, ibid.

Avon River, 206.
Axe do ibid.

Baal, 50, 223, 224, 226-7, 229, 243, 253

Berith, 57.

Magon, 229.

Peor, 57.

Samain, ibid.

Tsephon, ibid.

Zebub, ibid.

king of Tyre, 68.

Baltinne, 245,

Badezor, king of Tyre, 67.

Bain River, 206.

Bajocasses, people, 141, 189.

Baleares islands, name explained, 102.

Balccartus, kin<$ of Tyre, 66.

Ballinascellig, 244,

Barca family, 68.

Bards of the Gauls, 183.

Barle River, 206.

Barlengasislands, nameexplained,104.

Bartholomew, 291.

Belatucadrue, 227-

Belerium, 253.

Beleni Fons, 253.

INDEX.

Belasama, 224, 232, 236.

Estuary, 216.

Belgae of Britain, 136.

Belinus, 226, 253.

Belsamen, ibid.

Belus, his worship, 226, 231, 58.

Bel us, king of Tyre, 67-

Benna, 218.

Birt River, 206.

Biscayan, or Basque language, 338.

Bituriges, 141.

Cubi, 189.

Vibisci, 190.

Blackwater River, 206.

Blythe do ibid.

Boadicea, 196, 233.

Boderia Estuary, 215.

Bodotria do ibid.

Boldre River, 206.

Boli people, 141, 189.

Bollin River, 206.

Brannovices people, 441.

Brent River, 206.

Briga,what, as a prefix and postfix, 1 05.

Brigantes, 200.

Britain, Breviary of, 385 name ex-
plained,426 people of, their names
collated with the Gaelic 200 cities
of, 309, 310 estuaries of, 2 16.

British customs, 217 weapons, 219.

Briton Maol, 429.

Britons, 139 -conquered by Hannibal,
24 same people as the Gauls, 141
had great store of cattle, 156
used gold, brass, and iron rings for
money, ib had much tin, ib.
did not eat the hen, hare, or goose,
157 differed very little from the
Gauls, 158 strange custom of
marriage related by Caesar, ib.
mistaken, ib some of them paint-
ed themselves blue, 159 factions,
100 supplied the Gauls with pro-
visions for their armies, 153 used
horses and chariots in war, 155
manner of fighting, 156 had good
houses, ib. merchants refused to
give Caesar information respecting,
154 Gildas, 202 gods of, Baal,
Moloch, Taramis, Teutates,&c.221.
originally from Scythia, 293
murdered by the Saxons, 303.

Browney River, 206.

Brue, do. ibid.

Brute, his story, 291.

Buchanan, 401.

Cabiri, 83.

Cadiz, explained, 104.

Cadmus, called Milesius, 439",

Cadurci, 193.

Cadwallader, 196.

Caer Alcluid, 412.

Palladus, 233.

Vortigern, 309.

, see cities of Britain, ibid.

Caesar, his account of Britain, in some
respects erroneous, 159 of the
Druids, 161 of Gaul, 140 wrote
a dispatch in Greek, 149 invades
the Helvetii, 146 Britain, 153.

Cairn Water, 206.

Calder River, 207.

Caledonians, 353, 394, &c. Tacitus,
his account of, 399.

Caledonii, 201.

Calpe, explained, 103.

Camden, his account of the Picts and
their language, 407-

Camel River, 307.

Camlad do. ibid.

Canaan, land of, not fully peopled in
the time of Abraham, 73.

Cantabrians, 337.

Cantae, 201.

Cantigern, 302.

Cantii, 201.

Cape of Good Hope doubled by the
Phenicians 600 years before Christ,
47.

Capicirunt, explained, 435, 436.

Caracticus, 197-

Caradoc of Nantgarvan, 350.

Careni, 201.

Carmonacae, ibid.

Cam River, 207-

Carnutes, 141, 190.

Carri, what, 218.

Carthage, 45.

Carthaginians, 24.

Cartismandua, 197.

Carvilius, ibid.

Cassibelaunus, ibid.

Cassiterrides, 76.

Catacratus, 197.

Catamantalides, ibid,

Cateia, what, 219.

Catharni, what, 218.

Cayle River, 201.

Ceriog, do 207.

INDEX.

Celtae, history of, 1 many people of
Europe called so improperly, 2
defined, ib. Gauls, undoubted Cel-
tae, 3 who not Celtae, ib ad-
dicted to trade, 22 precise period
of their settlement in Europe un-
known, ibid a Phenician colony,
425 bishop Percy's Pedigree of, 8.

Celtic dialects', denned, 6.

Centigern, 200.

C erdicselmet, 298

Cerne, what, 80.

Cerones, 201.

Cetrum, what, 219, 220.

Charidemum Promontory, 103.

Charn River, 207.

Chelmer do ibid.

Chere do 195.

Chernaa, what, 80.

Chiula, what, 296.

Chiun, 50, 55.

Cimbri, 353, 379 not Celtic, 174-
th e account of them by Tacitus,
390 pedigree, 11 Florus, his ac-
count of, 388.

Cimbro- Gothic, 380.

Cingetorix, 197.

Cipin, what, 172.

Cippos, what, 171.

Cities of Britain, 309.

Claudian, 402, 405.

Clamhoctor, 292.

Cleddy River, 207-

Clota do ibid.

Clwyd do ibid.

Clyde do ibid.

Clytha do ibid.

Cogidunus, 197.

Coin River, 207-

Constantine, 278.

Conway River, 207.

Corispiti, 141, 190.

Coritani, 201 .

Cocker River, 207.

Cornavii, 202.

Cornish, 6, 360 not Celtic, 7-

Coronied, 354.

Corsica, explained, 102.

Cover River, 208.

Cowen do ibid.

Crag do ibid.

Craig do ibid.

Cree do ibid.

Creones, 202.

Creuse River, 195.

Critognatus, 197 name explained,

172 his speech, 173.
Cruitneach, what,
Cubi, 141, 189.
Cumberland, 412.
Cumbria, ibid.
Cunedagius, 198.
Cuneglasse, 198,280,327.
Cunobelinus, 197.
Curiosolites, 141, 190.
Customs, British, 217.
Cymbri, account of, 379 not Celts,

381, 386. 388.

Dagon, explained, 50.

Dalmatia, explained, 101.

Damnii, 202.

Danmonii, ibid.

Dart River, 208.

Davies, Rev, Edward, his Celtic Re-
searches, 349.

Dee River, 208,

Deities of the Phenicians, 50.

Demarus, king of Tyre, 85.

Denraberneth, 309.

Derwent Rivers, 208, 301.

Diana, 232.

Dmmum Cape, explained, 103.

Dicaledones, what, 409.

Dimetae, 202.

Diodorus Siculus, his account of
Gaul, 174.

Dis, Gauls descended from, 165.

Divico, 146.

Divona, 224, 235.

Dobuni, 202.

Don River, 208.

Dordogne River, 194.

Doube River, 195.

Dove do 208.

Dovy do ibid.

Drachaldy, 238.

Dromore, Percy, bishop of, his opi-
nion of the Welsh as a branch of
the Celtae, 7, 380, 395.

Druids, history of- Caesar's account
of chief seat of them in Britain,
160, 162, 167 used Greek letters,
163 their doctrines, 163 none
among the Germans, 169 Diodorus
account of, 183.

Duamonii, 202.

Dumnorix, 198.

Durance, 195.

Dunum Estuary, 216.

INDEX.

Dutoriges, 202.
Dwyrid River, 208.

Eden River, 208.

Edwall, 208.

Eire, the West, or Ireland, 81.

Elisha, Isles of, 32.

Eliza, or Dido, 67.

Elwy, River, 208.

Eluleus, king of Tyre, 68.

Enaurath, 290.

Epidii, 202.

Episford, 301.

Erin, not the name of Ireland, but the

inflection of the noun, 81.
Erne River, 209,
Erse, Celta3, 6.
Eske Rivers, 209.
Espinados Mondonedas, what, 109.
Essedum, what, 218.
Estuaries of Britain, names of, their

meaning, 215.
Euberovices, 141, 190, 441.
Eubonia, or Man, 290.
Eumenius, 404.
Ewanny River, 209.
Exe River, ibid.

Faustus, son of Vortigern, 305.
Fenius Farsa, 435 explained, 439.
Firbolgs, who, 423 account of, 427.
Fitchid Gwydhelians, 337.
Florus, his account of Cimbri, 388.
Fomorians, who, 427. 428.
Fons Solis, Egeriae, 240.
Fonlinalia Romana, ibid.
Foulmer River, 209.
Fountain Worship, 235.
Fowey River, 209.
Frome do ibid.

Gabal, workmen in Tyre, 32.

Gabranticorum Estuary, 210.

Gade River, 209.

Gadeni, 203.

Gael, inhabited England, 339.

Gael of Ireland, 433 history of, 435

descent of, 436.
Gaelic language collated with that of

Gaul, 1 87, &c.
Galedin, 353.
Galgacus, 198.
Galilee, meaning of, 84.
Gallamb, or Miles! us, 187, 438.
Gangani, 202.

Garonne River, 194.

Garumna, do ibid.

Gaul, Celtic, hints of, 14 Caesar's
account of, 140, &c. tribes of. 141
cities of, rich, 147 Dtodorus Si-
culus, his account of, 176 no silver,
but much gold there, 172 sit like
Easterns, cross-legged on the ground,
180 threw letters on the pile of
the dead, 181 language of, collated
with the Gaelic, 187 names of the
people mentioned by Caesar col-
lated with and found to be Gaelic,
189 Rivers in their names, ex-
plained, 193, c. names of per-
sons in, meaning of, 196, &c.

Gauls, undoubted Celtae, 3 used
Greek characters, 148 their ships,
149 improved their breed of cattle,
150 ships, 151 darts used by,
148 same people as Britons, 141
used shields, 147 only two class-
es of men among, Druids, and
knights, 161 very religious, 164
boast of their pedigrees, 165 de-
scend from Dis, 165 marriage por-
tion, 166 their method of defence
on a siege, 170 archers, 171 had
bards, 183 harp, ib,

Geasa-Draoidecht, 237.

Geryon, explained, 443.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, 315 his fa-
brications, 316 unworthy of credit,
317 the only foundation of re-
ceived Welsh history, 319.

Gildas, a Roman Briton, 257 his ac-
count of Britain, 262.

Glasgow besieged by king Arthur,
259.

Glengoner River, 209.

Gnoirangona, 299.

Godfrey Higgins, 23.

Golamb, or Milesius, 187, 438.

Gold, much in Gaul, 179 worn by
the women, 180.

Gold ornaments found in Ireland,
22.

Gothinians the, de.lts, 21.

Gothic dialects Swedish, Low Dutch,
Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, 6
pedigree of, 10.

Goyt River, 209

Grannus-Apollo, 230.

Greek characters used by the Gauls,
148, 163.

INDEX.

Greeks, ignorant of navigation when
the Phenicians were in their glory,
borrowed letters from the Pheni-
cians, 45, 46 attributed all inven-
tions to themselves, 74.

Greta River, 209.

Griffith, Richard, his account of an-
tient mine workings in Ireland, 77-

G runny River, 209,

Guerthegern, 295.

Guash River, 209.

Grian, 230.

Guili River, 210.

Guermet, 290.

Guain River, 209.

Gwydhelians, who, 336 the Welsh
name for the Gael, 145.

Hannibal, conquered the Britons, 24.

Hanno, 80.

Harp of the Gauls, 183.

Heber, 187, 440.

Hengist, 296 dies, 307,

Hercules 85, 87, 88, who, 55 mean-
ing of the name, 55 Phenician,
85 temple of, 86 Ogmius, 87
altar to theTyrians, 95 explained,
443 first discovers the British Is-
lands, 98*.

Hereri Mountain, 301.

Heremon, 187, 440.

Herne, what, 80.

Herodian, 402.

Herodotus, his account of the Phe-
nicians, 41, 42.

Hesus, 224, 226.

Heyne River, 210.

Hibernian Scots, so called by Gildap,
272.

Hiram, king of Tyre, 66.

Historeth, 292

Homeritae, an old name of the Phe-
nicians, 42.

Horsa, 301.

Hu Gadarn, 351.

Humber River, 210

Hyrcinian Forests, 443.

Ida, son of Eobba, 309.

Iceni, 203, 204.

Idle River, 210

lerne, 80.

immanuene, 198

Indre River, 195.

Ir, 187. 440.

Ireland, not peopled from Britain,
H h

but feom seaward, 19 Giraldus
Cambrensie, his account of, 420.

Irish, not Celts, 14 language, Cel-
tic, 6 spoken by the Briton, 340
compared with the Welsh, 267, &c.
no affinity with the Welsh, 397
history, 419 why reserved for the
last chapter, 410 acquainted with
letters before the Greeks, 420
Irish, the oldest manuscripts of any
European nation, 422 language
indicate a commercial people, 423.

Irwell River, 210.

Isere, or Isara River, 195.

Isis River, 210.

Isle do ibid.

Istorinus, 292.

Italy, meaning of, 101.

Itchen River, 210.

Ith, 440.

Ithobaal, king of Tyre, 66, 68,

Ituna Estuary, 216.

Ivil River, 210.

Ivel do ibid.

Jevan Brechva, 350.

Jupiter, Moloch, and Baal, 5G.

Kamper, 382.

Ken River, 210.

Kill-Archt, 237.

Kennett River, 210.

Key River, ibid.

Lachty River, 210.

Lark do. ibid.

Latobriges, 191.

Lancea, what, 219.

Lea River, 210.

Leen do. 211.

Lemanus River and Lake, 194.

Lemanus Estuary, 216.

Lemman River, 211.

Lemovices, 141, 191.

Letters, written by relatives, thrown
on the funeral pile by the Gauls for
the deceased to read, 181,

Leven River, 211.

Lexovii, 141, 191.

Lhuyd, 338, 339, 340.

Lhuyd, Edward, 144 first who de-
clared the antient Britons 10 be
Gael, 145- observation on the
Welsh proves the Gael inhabited
England, and Wales, before the
Welsh, 334.

Lloyd, Humphrey, 385 his account
of the Cimbri.

INDEX.

Llucher River, 211.
Liu do. ibid.

Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, 430.
Liga River, 194.
Lingones, 141, 197.
Liscius, 147-
Lodden River, 211.
Logi, 203.
Lolegrwys, 352.
Londobris, explained, 104.
Looe River, 194.
Lowther River, 211.
Loyne do. ibid.
Lucterius, 198.
Lugg River, 211.
Lugotorix, 198.
Luke River, 211.
Lune do. ibid.

Lybia, the old name of Africa, 46
first circumnavigated by tbe Pheni-
cians, 46 proofs thereof, 47.

Lybians, and Lydians, traded with
Tyre, 33.

Lynher River, 211.

Mac Ceacht, 432.

Mac Cuile, ibid.

Mac Greine, ibid,

Macpherson, Dr. 406.

Maglocune, 281.

Malek Bel us, 231.

Malta, explained, 102.

Manchester, history of, 362.

Manks, Celtic, 9.

Mandubratius, 198.

Marius, the Roman general, destroys
the Cimbri, 389.

Mairiage portion of the Gauls, 161.

Mars, 225.

Marum River, 211.

Matara, what, 219, 220.

Matrona River, 194.

Maun River, 211.

Mawddach do. ibid.

Mayenne River, 195.

Mease River, 211.

Mediterranean Sea, discovered by
Nuagaot, the Homerite, 438.

Medulli, 193.

Medway River, 211.

Mertae, 203.

Metaris Estuary, 216.

Metemsychosis, taught by the Druids,
163.

Midacrites, 87.

Milesius, explained, 438.

Vline working in Ireland, account of,

77.

Vlinerva Belisama, 232.
Mite River, 212.
vloguntua, 229.
Moloch, 50, 51, 223, 224, 225.
VIonedonedas Espinados, what, 109.
Mor Tawch, 3 4.
Mos^hus, 61.
Mounus, 229.
Moricambe Estuary, 216.
Namnetea, 141, 191.
Nen River, 212.
Nidd do. ibid.
Nil, 438.
Nitobriges, 193.
Novantae, 203.
Nennual, 435.
Nuagaot, explained, 487.
Octa, son of Hengist, 307.
Odin, 381.
Ogam, what, 68.
Oghgul, 298.
Ogmius, 87, 439.
Ogmore River, 212.
Oise River, 194.
Okement do. 212.

Oney do. ibid.

Onvana, 224, 232.

O'Neachtan, first collated the Punic
speech of the Pcenulus, 113.

Ordovices, 203, 441.

Ore River, 212.

Orgetorix, 199.

Orr River, 212.

Orwell River, ibid.

Oscher, 438.

Osismi, 141, 191.

Ottadini, 204.

Otter River, 212.

Ouse, do. ibid.

Paletyre, meaning of, 101.

Palladius, 306.

Palmyra, meaning of, 101.

Parisi, 204.

Pascent, son of Vortigern, 305.

Pedigree of the Celtic, 8 corrected,
9 Gauls boast of, 165 of Vorti-
gern .Gaelic, 305 observations of.
311.

People of Spain, their names collated
with the Gaelic, and explained, 105
of Britain, their names collated
"with the Gaelic, 200.

Percy, bishop of Dromore, 7? 380.

INDEX.

Persians, traded with Tyre, 33.

Phenicians, their early skill in naviga-
tion, 18, 29 earlytrade to Britain
for tin, 22 history of, 30 He-
rodotus, account of, 41 after-
wards built Tyre and Sidon, 42
called Homeritae, 49 Erythreans,
43, 50 not Canaanites, but Chal-
deans refuse to attack Carthage,
45 highly civilized, 426 colo-
nized Ireland, Britain, and Gaul,
426 circumnavigate Africa, 47
supplied 300 ships to Xerxes,
wore helmets like the Greeks, 49
deities of, 50- brought the wor-
ship of Baal from Chaldea, and
sacrificed human victims to Baal,
59 worshipped their gods in
groves, 61 not circumcised, ib. -
very successful by sea and land, 62
first colonized Britain, 71 gave
names to most of maritime Europe,
76, 98 got their metals from all
the British Islands, 78 spoke a
dialect of the Hebrew, 79 colo-
nized Ireland, 428.

Phenicia, description and extent of,
30 meaning of the name, 64.

Pictones, 141, 191.

Picts, 274, 291, 357, 401, &c. Cam
den's account of, 407 Irish name
for, 410 conquered Wales, Corn-
wall and Armorica, at the fall of
the Roman Empire, 414 annihi-
lated by Kenneth Mac Alpin, king
of the Scots, 415.

Polydore Vergil condemns Geoffrey,
but praises Gildas, 317, 318.

Plautus, Punic speech of, his Pcenulua
collated with the Gaelic, 114 and
seq. Bochart's opinion, 116.

Prasutagus, 198.

Procillus, N. N. 150.

Prydain, 351.

Punic speech of Plautus, borrowed
from O'Neachtan, without acknow-
ledgment, by Vallancey, 113.

Queen of heaven, 236 cakes of, ib.

Rag-well, 238.

Ray River, 212.

Rauraci, 141.

Rea Rivers, 212.

Reged, province of, 311.

Regni, 204.

Remphan, 50, 55.

Rheed River, 212.

Rheda, what, 217.

Rhedones, 141, 192.

Rhenanus, 194.

Rhine River, ibid.

Rhone do. 194.

Ribb do. 212.

Ribble do. ibid.

Riphean Mountains, 98,* 443.

Rivers in Portugal, their names col-
lated with the Gaelic and explained,
112 of Spain, names of, collated
with the Gaelic, and explained,
108, 112 in Gaul, their names ex-
plained, 193 in Britain their
names collated with the Gaelic, 205.

Roberts, Rev. Peter, his Chronicles
of the Kings of Rritain, a transla-
tion of Geoffrey of Moumouth, 319
questions the authority of Gildas,
his criticism proved erroneous, 320,
321, &c. his very judicious observa-
tions on the Welsh and Irish lan-
guages, 329, 395.

Roch River, 212.

Rowland, 342.

Ruithina, what, 296

Rumney, 213.

Rusadir, explained, 102,

Ruteni, 141;

Ryther River, 213.

Sabrina Estuary, 216.

Salmanazar besieges Tyre, hut forced
to raise the siege, 63.

Sammes Aylett, his opinion of the
Phenician colonization of Britain,
72, found it without inhabitants,
73.

Sanaa, 42.

Saone River, 195.

Sardinia, explained, 102.

Saron, king of Tyre, 65.

Saturn and Moloch the same, 51 his
image, 52, 54 seven chapels, 53
called Israel, why, 55.

Sautones, 141, 191.

Saxons,274 murder the Britons, 303.

Scellig Michael, 247 account of the
stations of, 247 worship of, 244.

Scillean, 245.

Scilly Islands, 76,. 245.

Scombraria Cape, explained, 103.

Scoti, vi. 433, who, 435.

Scots, why so called, 64.

INDEX.

Seduni, 141, 192.

Segonax, 199.

Selgovae, 204.

Sequana River, 193.

Sequani, 141, 192.

Segusiani, 141, 192.

Severn River, 213, 216 Estuary 216.

Ships, invention of, 74, 75.

Sicheus, 67.

Sid River, 213.

Sidon, meaning of, 101.

Sidonians, of the Red Sea, 43.

Sihor, 438.

Silver, River, 213 none in Gaul, 1 74.

Silures, 204, 441.

Simeni, 203, 204.

Soar River, 213.

Sparum, what, 219.

Spain, antient people of, their names

all explained in Gaelic, 105 names

of rivers collated with the Gaelic,

and explained, 108.
Spatha, what, 219.
St. Bridget, 294.
St. Columkill, ibid.
St. Germanus, 296, 300, 304, 306.
St. Michael's Well, 244.
St. Patrick, 294, 306, 307.
St. Paulinus, 309.
Stoke River, 215.
Stone of Destiny, 430,
Stoure River, 213.
Strine do ibid.
Stroud do. ibid.
Swale do. ibid.
Taff River, 213.
Tamar do. ibid.
Tanaar, 435.
Tamissa Estuary, 216.
Taneth, what, 296.
Taramis, 224.
Tarn River, 195.
Tarshish, traded with Tyre, 33

meaning of, 39, 40.
Teutates, 225.
Tave River, 213.
Taximagulua, 199.
Tay River, 213.
Tetramnestris, 65.
Tees River, 213.
Teign do. ibid.
Terne do. ibid.
Teutates, or Deo Tait. 437.
Texali, 204.

Thames River, 214.

Thammuz, 50 Adonis, 56.

Theomantius, 199.

Thyreos, what, 219, 220.

Tiber explained, 101.

Tidi River, 214.

Tiefi River, 213.

Timagines, called Milesius, 439.

Tin, 87.

Tivy River, 214.

Tobbar Muire, 237.

Bridget, ibid.

Togodumnus, 199.

Toland, Mr letters on the Druids,

6.

Tophet, what, 53.

Toth, or Tait, 437, 438.

Tow River, 213.

Towey River, 213, 214.

Trent River, 214.

Triads, Welsh, 349.

Trileucum Promontory, explained,
104.

Trinobantes, 205.

Trwduay River, 214.

Tuath de Danans, account of, 429
come from Denmark, 430 ances-
tors of the Caledonian Picts, 431.
Tugeni, 141, 192.

Tweed River, 214.

Tyre, statistical description of, by
Ezekiel, 31 with the countries
they traded with, and the articles of
merchandize of the Tyrians, 32
philosophers of, 62 siege of, by
Alexander, 63 by Salmanazar and
Nebuchodnezzar, 63 kings of, 65,
66, &c cities of Tyre, 69 Dio-
dorus Siculus, his account of the
siege and capture of Tyre, by
Alexander the Great,70,* &c. mean-
ing of, 100 river, 214.

Tzetzes, Isaac, 24.

Unelli, 141, 192.

Urbigenes, 141, 192.

Ueke River, 214.

Vacomagi, 205.

Vallancey, General, 11 erroneously
declares the Irish not to be Celts,
ib mistaken in calling the Wal-
denses, Celts his derivations, 15,
44.

Vanas, 233.

Vandas, 233.

INDEX.

Vectae, Isle of, 216.

Vecturiones, what, 409.

Vellocatus, 199.

Veneti, 141 their ships, 149, 150,

151.

Venicentes, 205.
Venta, what, 216.
Venta Silurum, 217-
Venta Icenorum, 217.
Venus Victrix, 234.
Venus Pallas, 234.
Venutius, 199.
Vercingetorix, 171.
Veredoctus, 199.
Vergessilaunus, 199.
Vergil Polydore, 317. 318.
Vergobretus, what, 144,
Verniew River, 214.
Vices, erroneous explanation of, by

Whitaker, 365.
Viducasses, 141, 193.
Vienne River, 195.
Vilaine do. ibid.
Viridovix, 199,
Volscae Tectosages, 170.
Voliba River, 214.
Vortigern, 200, 281, 295 his incest,

300, 304, 305 his pedigree, 305.
Vortimer, 301 his gallant condnct,

301, 303.
Vortiper, 280.
Wainrush River, 214.

Wales, inhabited by a people speak-
ing Irish, before the Welsh, 334,
335

Wandle Riyer, 214.

Ware, Sir James, his notion of the
peopling of Ireland and Britain, 16.

Watergall River, 214.

Watling-street, explained, 363.

Wantsum River, 214.

Waveney River, 215.

Weapons of the British, 219.

Wear River, 215.

Welland do. ibid.

Well-worship, 235.

Welsh, 6 * bishop Percy'8 opinion
thereof, 6 not Celtic, 7 errone-
ous notion concerning the, 142
Welsh and Irish have no affinity
whatever, 320, 334 not Celts, 360
language compared with the
Irish, 395from Scotland, 411.

Wen sum River, 215

Werf do. ibid.

Weske do. ibid.

Wey do. ibid.

Weelock do. ibid.

Wherf do. ibid.

Whitaker, 362, 403.

Wily River, 215.

Winsom do. ibid.

Worship, well, 238.

Wye Rivers, 215.

Xerxes, 49.

Yar River, 215.

Yare do. ibid.

Yarrow do. ibid.

Yeo, do. ibid.

Yonne do. 195.

Yore do. 215.

Zimzim, 240.

ERRATA.

Page. Line.

25 4 for 12th, read 16th,

3 1 7 for where, read were.

37 note ejutate, read ejulate.

f>2 6 dele people.

77 7 for importance, read authority.

78 22 for because its, read awo* A/A-.

79 13 for amf, read exists.

84 7 for settlement, read settlements.

85 8 for namely, read merely.
92 9 for claims, read chains.
98 11 for were, read w;as.

109 note for takes y read tfaAre, and name, read names.

140 19 for different, read diffcrunt.

144 2 for annuum, read annuus.

157 6 for /a^s, read /&*.

218 16 for Aotffe, read ^fe.

219 5 lor formed, re^ found.
222 18 for Maw, read tot'lA.
2B7 13 for Britain, read Briton.
287 19 for r*Y0tt, read Britain.
365 16 for was, read *.

380 note for Nobitia, read Notitia.

382 1 1 note for coporis, read corporis.

384 1 for spoke, read spoken.

392 7 dele comma after Cimbric.

394 8 for exhibit, read exhibits.

398 5 for Agricolce, read Agricolct.

430 4 for Mw, read #Aey.

43G 3 for a/irf o^, read z/ MO.

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